Thorne Travel plans to launch a cruise department amid a spike in cruise bookings at the Scottish two-branch agency.
Owner Shona Thorne (pictured) confirmed recently-promoted cruise manager John Ferguson will discuss possible names for the cruise department with customers in the coming weeks.
Thorne has more than 30,000 customers in its database and around 60,000 followers across its social media channels.
In addition to deciding on a name for the cruise department, Thorne and Ferguson also hope to recruit four sales staff who will focus on bookings with every cruise line.
The new recruits will join Ferguson and two other current staff members in the cruise department.
Thorne Travel’s cruise sales are 200% up so far this year versus 2019, the agency said.
Asked how she felt about recruiting in the current climate, Thorne said: “It has not been too bad because as long as someone has Thorne’s customer service skills, we can teach team them the systems here.
“The most important thing is how they interact with customers.”
Thorne said people who have experience of working in the hospitality industry or as cabin crew could often successfully become travel agents at Thorne Travel.
She also highlighted how lifeguards and hairdressers were good options.
Thorne Travel currently has two branches in Kilwinning and Largs, both in Scotland, and Thorne did not rule out further expansion of the retail network.
She explained that the agency had been able to “survive and thrive” recently because of the way it had “looked after customers”.
“We’re now surpassing 2019 booking figures,” she said. “We’re extremely pleased with where we are.”
Thorne explained that it was important to be able to sell holidays in-person and online.
“At Thorne Travel, you can book short haul without speaking to anyone,” she said. “The rest you can look at online and then enquiries come through to us.
“There are different types of customers so you need to interact with them in different ways. They may walk through our front door or they may want to book online.
“We’re still hand-holding to an extent, booking dinners and excursions for them.”