Barrhead Travel has unveiled its new Cruise Academy – a virtual learning and development programme designed to expand its cruise offering.

New and existing colleagues will be invited to participate in various tailored sessions, including bespoke native modules as well as sessions from key cruise partners.

The Cruise Academy is part of Barrhead Travel’s core Training Academy division, which has three full-time trainers.

Face-to-face training will be complemented by an online learning lab, which features self-guided development opportunities from industry knowledge to skills training.

The inaugural Cruise Academy intake of 10 Barrhead employees completed their first training programme in June.

Barrhead Travel focusing on cruise sales

Barrhead Travel president Jacqueline Dobson said: “Cruise has always been a big part of our business; pre-pandemic, around one third of our usual business was made up of cruise bookings.

“The scope of opportunity to connect more customers with experienced advisors is significant because cruise is such a vast product with so many options to choose from.

“Cruising is a great holiday option as there’s quite literally something for everyone – no matter if a customer has a budget of £1,000 or £100,000, or whether they’re cruising solo or as part of a multigeneration family booking.

“However, you really need someone who knows the market to be able to offer the right product recommendations that are tailored to the customer.

“Selling the wrong type of cruise can damage a customer’s confidence in the sector – but get it spot on, and you’re likely to have a loyal cruise customer for life.

“That’s why training is so important and we’re really excited to launch the academy to strengthen our position in the market.”

Dobson also added that the company was seeing a “stronger response to our recruitment campaigns”, which “indicates that people are beginning to return to careers in the industry”.