Silversea president Bert Hernandez has described the UK as “a natural place to grow” and hailed the input of travel agents, as he hinted at the potential for more staff once a new UK managing director is hired.
Speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast with editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley, Hernandez stressed the UK was “a critical market” and hinted at expansion of the team when a replacement for Peter Shanks is recruited after his upcoming retirement.
He said: “We are always looking to grow. We are doing a lot on the trade side, direct side, marketing and revenue management here.
“There is a hub of talented people in London, and in the UK in general, and any time we have a cultural and language fit where they understand our product, it is a natural place to grow from a labour standpoint.”
He confirmed the UK was the luxury and expedition line’s second largest market to the US “by a significant amount”, and that the trade was growing share, making it “critical to the brand”.
Hernandez said certain products “absolutely require the UK market to be successful”, with examples including Caribbean cruises over the winter and expedition itineraries where UK passengers over-index.
He added: “The trade is the strongest here [in the UK] of any market, with the highest share and they are very vocal and do a great job.”
Hernandez said the UK trade had been particularly vocal about a decision to move Silversea’s UK-based trade reservations centre to the Philippines, but insisted teething problems had now been resolved.
Noting initial “gripes” from agents, he said performance had “improved dramatically” and there was now “no difference in service levels” between Manila and London.
Hernandez said the decision to move the centre was based on a desire to offer 24/7 service to agents and provide shore-side opportunities to ex-crew members, who are experts on the product and are mainly from the Philippines.
He also said this year’s wave period had been “better than ever” in terms of booking volumes, and pointed to improvements in deployment and new crew training as positive steps since he joined last year.