Viking Cruises to create agent training programme

Viking Cruises is building an agent training programme to help the trade get to grips with its new ocean product.

The company is due to launch its first ocean ship, the Viking Star, in April. Another two vessels will follow in 2016.

Neil Barclay, head of sales, who recently spoke to Cruise Adviser about the difference between ocean and river cruising, said that the company’s agent training initiative would not be a “run-of-the-mill course”.

“We have our river training and we are looking to develop an interactive training programme for the ocean side of the business,” he said.

“Our ocean proposition is extremely different from what other cruise lines offer. We have different inclusions and we want to get across what kind of experience a customer will have with us.

“We want to offer agents a training programme that is a little different and more interactive – not just a run-of-the-mill course.”

The company has reportedly sold a majority of its cruises for the rest of 2015 and will host agent familiarisation trips later in the year to Barcelona, Stockholm and Bergen, all important stops for the ocean product.

Barclay added that the agents make up 50 per cent of sales for Viking, reiterating the trade’s importance to the company.