Tom Mahoney, the cruise lines UK sales director, told Travel Bulletin all about this years bolstered fam schedule, new incentive campaign, and 2024s Event Voyage programme.
Matt Hayhoe sat down with Tom to discuss all things Cunard and all things trade: a packed fam programme unravelling this year, a bolstered sales support team, and a new 2024 Event Voyage programme.
On last month’s announcement of the 2024 Event Voyages programme, Tom explained: "There are seven Event Voyages taking place for 2024. We’re looking to utilise the really strong brand partnerships we have to bring the voyages to life for agents who are selling or on-board themselves to elevate what Cunard is to them and provide a great reason to sell.
“Four voyages will be on Queen Mary 2, with the standout being London Theatre at Sea, in partnership with the Olivier Awards. Not only will guests be entertained with the performances themselves, but also get the chance to dive in to what the lives of actors and performers look like. Also returning next year on Queen Mary 2 is the Literature Festival at Sea. This is a great opportunity for bookworms to indulge themselves in the literary life at sea. We're in partnership with the Cheltenham Literature Festival, which is a great collaboration that we like to return to each year."
Queen Mary 2 will be joined by Queen Elizabeth for the Event Voyages programme, with two new concepts and a standout sporting option following hot on the heels of a box-office Ashes series on home turf.
"This is a new concept for us next year, the Sporting Greats and Wellness Voyage. Brett Lee will be joining us on-board Queen Elizabeth out of Sydney, which combines the sporting icon theme with wellness; a growing motivation when it comes to holiday decisionmaking."
This year's Event Voyages programme has been met with impressive feedback, as Tom elaborates: "We've seen a great level of engagement from our agents that are keen to hear more, and that comes into fruition with an increase in bookings. We're really happy with it so far."
One barrier these voyages hope to break down is Cunard's reputation: "One thing we're really keen to do is break down the myths versus the realities. Maybe a sporting voyage is unexpected for those who have preconceptions of what Cunard is. In other cases, we're reaching out a new demographic who are looking to understand exactly what it means to sell Cunard."
The cruise line recently reinstated its trade team, and Tom was quick to praise the move: "We’ve had some really good feedback... what this facilitates is a greater Cunard presence at events, at conferences, at trade shows. It’s really important that we get out there, have these conversations, and are ever present with our trade partners."
Elaborating on how important the timing of the trade growth was, the director of UK sales continued: "I've been in the role for about 16 months now. When I joined the team, we and the travel world had just been through a really tough period. At that point, we were in a period of growth and rebuild. We managed to retain a lot of amazing people. Then we looked towards promotions. The next step for us was to get back out there, and be able to offer trade partners, existing and new, a fully-functional, fully-responsive team. We bought in James Scott as business manager, and he recruited Savannah Fryer, based in the North, and John Garber, based in the South.
"It's important to note that those were both internal promotions. It's incredibly important for us to retain strong talent and promote within. Both of them have been out and about for a while now, meeting agents. We're really keen to work with all kinds of agents, whether you're working in the High Street, part of a contact centre, or a homeworker. We're seeing incredible growth across all points of sales in the trade at the moment. We want to make sure we are able to get out there and talk to as many people selling cruises and selling holidays as we possibly can.
"I'm so excited to have this team set up. Without that team, we'd be spoiled for choice but lack the ability to engage with them. Now we have the team to support that, and it's so important for us."
With the bolstered level of trade support comes boosted fam opportunities and incentives.
"We're putting so much emphasis on getting travel agents on-board. We want to make the important point that much like there's a holiday for everyone, there's a Cunard cruise for everyone, too. We pride ourselves on the investments we make into ship visits; we put on entertainment, lunches, and ensure the host-to-agent ratio is really strong. Agents can ask as many questions as they like and get a real understanding of what Cunard means.
"Already this year we've had a host of day visits, around 20 agents go to Norway, 20 to Alaska, those were incredible. We're hoping to have over 160 travel agents on-board fam trips this year, with a ratio of one host to five agents maximum."
Without even stepping on-board, agents can make the most of selling Cunard.
"Our new campaign, which runs until October, offers agents 100 Shine points for every booking that's logged. We hope agents can accumulate those points for shopping vouchers or, more importantly, Cunard voyages of their own. We're going to break down some barriers in terms of point percentages and make sure it's as easy as possible for agents to get on-board for themselves."
Explore Cunard's joint rewards platform with P&O at www.shinerewardsclub.com and find out more about Cunard's Event Programme for 2024 and regular schedule at www.cunard.com.
