Celestyal has announced plans to double its trade team in 2024 and introduce a new dedicated agent portal.

The current agency sales team, headed up by VP of business development Janet Parton, will be expanding by a further four people. A new trade marketing manager will be recruited, who will be joined by three trade support executives.

They will respectively report into VP of brand and customer journey Anna Gregori and country manager for Celestyal in the UK Jo Reid.

Alongside the growth in the team, Celestyal have confirmed they will launch a new dedicated trade portal in mid-December.

Accessible via its website, the portal will bring together all trade marketing materials, campaign details and incentive information. Additional functionality will be added throughout 2024 such as a refreshed Celestyal Stars platform, the line’s online agent training platform.

To complete the investment, a dedicated trade support phone line will go live ahead of the peak booking period.

Agent partners ‘critical’ to Celestyal business

“Following the recent announcement of Celestyal’s full fleet refresh, second new ship, Celestyal Discovery, and our additional destinations and itineraries, we are delighted to confirm plans to significantly enhance our trade support function,” Parton said.

“Agent partners are critical to the success of the business. It’s vital that alongside the fleet refresh, and investment into the customer offering, we also invest in trade support, so agents can capitalise on the wealth of opportunities we have available.

“With the team doubling in size, new agent resources and a dedicated phone number, we’ll be better placed than ever before to support the travel trade.”