Inspire Europe homeworkers have hailed the company’s focus on cruise sales and training as they reported bumper bookings over recent weeks.
They say Inspire’s investment helped them capitalise on growing consumer interest and a wide range of cruise ships and itineraries that appeal to many clients.
Claire Nicholson booked a multigenerational cruise featuring different pre- and post-cruise stays, worth almost £40,000 in total.
“The pandemic reinforced the value of a travel agent,” she said.
“A lot of people saved up and may not have travelled yet.
“Cruises are also good value – on a 10-day Caribbean cruise, you can visit eight islands.”
She said Inspire is supporting agents with training and supplier offers.
“It is making a bit of a push, as there are more sailings from Southampton, and low-cost airlines offering flights to Spain and Italy. There will be a lot of buzz about cruise in 2023,” she added.
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Kerry Ellis, whose business is called Stay Curious Travel, made a multigenerational booking worth £32,000 after spotting a request for help on Facebook.
The holiday includes a Celebrity Cruises sailing to celebrate a mum’s 40th birthday, taking the family from Sydney to Hawaii – plus a Cunard sailing from Southampton to Sydney for the grandparents, stays in Australia and Hawaii, a stopover in Los Angeles, and flights.
“We have had lots of great training on cruise recently and I love the fact that the rest of the agents are really generous with their time when I ask all sorts of questions,” she said.
With Inspire, she receives 50% of the commission the month after booking and 50% the month after they depart.
“A lot of my clients are looking for once-in-a-lifetime cruises for 2024 and it’s so lovely to help them plan,” she added.
Lorna Hardy said: “We have been getting good commercial deals from the cruise lines – it is key that trade partners are supportive with rewards and uplifts in commission.”
She highlighted MSC Cruises which pays commission of 15%, which is important for agents as cruise enquiries can be time-consuming.
Also, she added, cruises offer good value for clients, especially with drinks packages and other inclusions such as tips, Wi-Fi and excursions.
Some clients are booking for 2024 as it gives them plenty of time to save up for their cruise and spread the expense, as they may be concerned about the rising cost of living, she said.
“A lot of them lost out in the pandemic and they are dreaming about holidays – they are splurging extra if they can to escape from reality,” she added.
“Some agents may be frightened about selling cruise as there is so much to learn but there are a lot of pros, and they outweigh the cons.”
Wendy Veal said her cruise sales have seen “strong growth” recently, thanks to Inspire’s investment, plus training and access to deals.
“My clients want to explore more of the world…from taster cruises for new-to-cruise clients to round-the-world cruises,” she said.
“All-inclusive options are such good value and the larger ships aimed at families are becoming increasingly popular.”
Lisa Henning, managing director at Inspire Europe, said: “Cruise has become an integral part of our business, largely due to the fact that cruise is a rapidly growing sector of the market and our customer-facing teams love to sell cruise.
“We have invested heavily into further developing our in-house call centre infrastructure and expanded our homeworking network to fully capitalise on the growing cruise market, and to ensure we have the necessary skills and expertise to take advantage of it.
“We have also invested heavily in training and technology for our sales teams, as well as forged partnerships with the likes of Widgety, for example, to help them become more knowledgeable and better equipped to deliver great service to our cruise customers.
“Sales have already got off to a strong start for 2023 and it looks likely that it could be an exceptionally strong year for us in cruise sales this year.”