Celebrity Cruises has unveiled an enhanced Rewards programme for travel agents to coincide with the launch of its latest Celebrity Moments campaign.
The new rewards scheme gives agents the chance to redeem points on either a luxury gift for themselves or their clients.
Gifts for clients would be delivered to their stateroom on arrival and include champagne, celebration cakes and floral arrangements. There is also the option for agents to include a personalised message.
To redeem the gift, agents should visit the Celebrity Rewards website where they can choose their preferred present from a catalogue and complete an online form.
Alternatively, agents will still be able to opt for a treat for themselves, and can choose to redeem points directly onto their Rewards Mastercard or choose from a range of items such as gift vouchers and electronics.
Celebrity’s head of sales Nicola McNeish said the initiative is centred around giving agents “more choice” and labelled it a “cruise industry first”.
“To date, Celebrity Rewards has all been about recognising travel partner performance and rewarding them for every booking they make, and it still will be that,” she said.
“From today, agents can either redeem their points on a luxury gift for themselves, or they can do it for their clients.”
McNeish said the initiative was launched following feedback from the line’s luxury travel partners, who said they wanted to be able to treat their clients.
“We now know there’s lots of people going on holiday to celebrate a special occasion that they’ve missed over the last 18 months, so [agents] could use their rewards to organise a cake or some chocolates in the stateroom, or, if there’s a family travelling, a teddy bear, so there’s a nice variety.”
She added: “We didn’t want to take away from what we were doing already, so [agents] can still choose to take the reward for themselves if that’s what they want to do – and we know that they deserve it. But equally if they do want to reward their client and leave them a little treat in their stateroom when they get there then they can.”
The initiative coincides with a fresh Celebrity Moments campaign, which will see the line give away 100 cash prizes to its top-selling agents, worth a total of £25,000.
McNeish confirmed agents will continue to earn Celebrity Rewards on every booking they make, regardless of the sailing year.
The line has also launched a new sales and marketing toolkit on Celebrity Central and is increasing its contact centre hours for added support.
“When you think of the pandemic, we know that clients are now looking for somebody who’s got expertise and knowledge to guide them in the ever-changing world that we’re living in,” McNeish said.
“Our partners are critical to our success so we’re making sure that they’ve got the rewards, the toolkits and all the marketing assets and selling tools that they need.
“What we’re trying to do with all of this is make it super easy for [agents] so they’ve got everything in one place to make it really simple for them to sell Celebrity Cruises.”