Sales representatives from Riviera Travel and Silversea have shared their knowledge and experience with more than 80 budding travel professionals during a virtual career session.

Riviera Travel sales development manager Paul Mellon, and Silversea UK & Ireland national and key account manager Helen Crosbie held a session with students at Uxbridge College about their career paths and the cruise industry.

Speakers also discussed popular itineraries and destinations, guest demographics, and some of the key advantages and differences between ocean and river cruises.

Mellon and Crosbie were invited to speak by former Virgin Atlantic sales representative Natalie Connell, who now works as a travel and tourism lecturer at the college.

Mellon said: “It was a pleasure to meet the students and help give them further insight into the background and benefits of a river cruise. Hopefully I’ve helped add to their knowledge of our sector – river sailings are a fantastic option and the students were clearly keen to hear more.

“It was also helpful to talk up their sustainability credentials, which are becoming an increasing priority for both travel professionals and the wider public.”

Crosbie added: “It was such a great opportunity to be able to meet all the students virtually to talk about the wonderful world of the Silversea cruise product. I hope that they feel inspired and now have a greater understanding of the luxury and expedition cruise industry. I also really enjoyed giving them an insight into my varied travel industry career from the past 27 years, particularly as my journey into travel began with NVQ qualifications at college.”

Connell said: “We arranged the guest talk as part of our enrichment programme for students as this year has seen a halt to our usual work experience and oversea educational visits.

“It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to hear from our two guest speakers from Riviera Travel and Silversea. Not only did they share their product knowledge, but inspired them with their stories of how they developed their careers, from their own training at college to full time work in the industry.”