Saga celebrates Spirit of Discovery with VIP trade

Saga hosted more than 600 travel industry professionals on board its first newbuild ship, the Spirit of Discovery, this week, in the lead up to its christening today.

The ship will be christened by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall at a ceremony in Dover.

During the VIP bash, there was a programme of events available – from yoga on deck to gym classes and complimentary spa treatments. The singer Fleur East hosted a pool party and agents were able to book the speciality restaurants “giving them the chance to experience every venue on board the ship,” according to Iain Powell, head of trade sales for Saga.

“It’s very difficult to sell a cruise ship, or any product, if you’ve not seen it,” he added. “The idea of doing this event is to bring a large group of agents on board and show them what we’ve created and that it’s totally different to what they expected.

“We hope that they love their time on board, love the ship and then go home and sell it to their customers.”

Powell also revealed that Saga was running an incentive for travel agents who attended the VIP event – with all bookings for Spirit of Discovery being entered into a competition to win a place at the VIP event for Saga’s second newbuild, Spirit of Adventure, which launches in August 2020.

Bookings must be made in July and emailed through to the trade team, with 50 places up for grabs.

The company is also running a ship visit programme with four dates still available in Southampton and Dover.