The Scenic Group is urging agents to look at the lucrative groups market after it reported a “dramatic increase” in sales.
Pent-up demand caused by pandemic lockdowns is thought to be behind much of the rise, with larger groups of family or friends booking “bucket list” cruises with the operator’s Scenic Luxury Cruises and Emerald Cruises brands.
Recent successes include an Emerald Cruises sailing on the Douro, plus Lisbon extension, for a group of more than 25, sold by Appleby Travel in Cumbria, and an Emerald Cruises Rhine cruise in October sold by Crumlin Travel in Northern Ireland.
Andrea Stafford, Scenic Group’s director of trade sales, said: “It’s been an unexpected bonus for us. The rise in groups business has made us look again at how we treat that whole area of our operation.
“We have renewed our focus on groups and streamlined the entire booking process for agents to make things as simple as possible.”
She added: “Groups can be a seriously good earner for agents because very often the number of clients snowballs quickly. We’ve found this year that there is huge interest in the weddings market, and also people celebrating milestone birthdays with family.”
The Scenic Group has implemented a nine-step groups process, which starts when agents with a group booking contact their regional sales manager.
The operator’s team checks availability and offers dedicated pricing and group benefits such as discounts, on-board credit and extras including private transfers and drinks packages depending on the sailing.
Stafford added: “From an agent point of view, the best thing about selling groups is that we can take over much of the work.”
Scenic Group offers dedicated marketing materials to promote group bookings, along with the option of tailored groups training.
Pictured: Emerald Radiance on Douro river, Portugal