Fam trips and incentives: December round-up

CMV to run 27 ship tours in 2018

Cruise & Maritime Voyages is to welcome 1,000 agents and trade partners on to its ships in 2018 over 27 different dates around the country.

Making the announcement last month, Lisa Jacobs, CMV head of trade sales, said: “This year we
have seen more than 700 agents on board four of our ships in nine different ports around the UK.
It has had an immediate positive effect on our sales a case of now you see it and now you can sell it.
All our trade partners have earned good commission with our incentives to book early. In all our advertising we encourage passengers to go to their travel agent and this also applies to all onboard sales.”

New venues for agent visits include Poole, Portsmouth. Greenock, Belfast and Cardiff, while agents will also get the opportunity to tour the ships in Tilbury, Bristol, Newcastle, Dundee, Hull, Invergordon and Liverpool.

The visits will take place between March 14 and November 5 next year.

Jacobs added: “As with our cruise programme our passengers prefer to cruise from closer to home, hence the wide choice of UK departure points. Our ship visit programme is aimed to make it easy for the trade to come on board and take a look.”

Carnival reveals December loyalty offer

Carnival Cruise Line has revealed
the December incentive for its Loyalty Rocks Club. Agents will be able to earn 15 points per booking – the equivalent of £15 – which they can exchange for prizes.

Any agent who makes a December booking will also be in with a chance of winning one of 12 places at the Clia Selling Cruise Conference in May. Carnival will cover the cost of the ticket, as well as three nights’ accommodation in Southampton
and a night out.

The company also redesigned
its goccl.co.uk travel agent website last month.

To register for the Loyalty Rocks Club, agents should visit loyaltyrocksclub.redpoints.co.uk.

Club Royal members earn £10 for each booking

Royal Caribbean International is offering its Club Royal members
the opportunity to earn £10 for
every booking made on its new platform, AirWaves.

The platform, which launched
to all agent partners on 23 November, has been specially designed to help the trade sell more fly-cruises, with an emphasis on the options available from the UK’s regional airports.

The offer runs to December 18 and is applicable on all 2018 sailings.

U by Uniworld to get ‘non-millennial’ agents and clients on board with eight special sailings

U by Uniworld, the millennial-focused brand by Uniworld, has announced that it will put aside
eight sailings next year for the travel agent community.

The fam trips, for agents who don’t necessarily have to be in the brand’s 21-45 target age-group, will be on the Seine, Danube and Rhine.

Travel agents will also be allowed to book curious clients of any age onto the eight special sailings, none of which will be advertised on the company’s website.

“Travel agents have always been an integral part of our sales strategy and research has demonstrated that millennials increasingly seek experts to help plan their travel experiences,” said Ellen Bettridge, President & CEO of Uniworld.   

“We want to ensure we are providing travel agents the best opportunities to not only experience this history-making river cruise for themselves, but to also best meet the needs of this diverse millennial generation.”