Cruise business ‘extremely important’ to Barrhead’s 2025 targets
The “burgeoning” cruise sector will play a vital role in helping Barrhead Travel achieve its ambitious targets for 2025 and beyond
This was the message from president of the Scottish agency group’s parent company Internova Leisure, Jacqueline Dobson, who told Cruise Trade News on day two of the Barrhead Travel Conference in Ibiza that customers searching for experiences and value for money will opt for a holiday-at-sea.
“Cruise is roughly 37% of our overall business, so it is extremely important for us,” she said. “Customers are looking for experiences and value for money so a cruise holiday ticks all the boxes, and for multi-generational families as well, which is also increasing in popularity.”
Dobson added: “So it’s very, very important for our business, and we’ll continue to support our agent members in tapping into this accelerating market.”
So far this year 350 of the company’s agent members have joined ship visits. Next year Barrhead will continue to roll out in-house and supplier-led training initiatives, continue attending industry events such as the CLIA Conference, and look to host “more ship visits than ever”.
Dobson is also aware of the challenges facing the cruise industry in 2024 and 2025. Speaking about the tensions in the Red Sea and the ongoing cost of living crisis, she said: “It’s more of a pain than having a direct impact.
“If a ship has to be moved because of something going on in the Middle East, we have to rebuild customers’ holidays from the ground up, which can take time, but I don’t think it will impact anything else moving forward.”
Another key aspect of Dobson’s role is government relations. Ahead of the Autumn budget, which is due to be published on 30 October, she urged prime minister Keir Starmer’s Labour administration to reform the business rates policy to help stimulate the regeneration of the high street.
Barrhead urges Labour government to help stimulate high street footfall
“That will seriously help to entice people back to the local high street,” she explained. “From a learning perspective in Scotland, there needs to be a full overhaul of the apprenticeship levy. We have contributed to the manifesto and sent it into both the UK and the Scottish governments in terms of what would like to see from travel.”
Meanwhile, Barrhead Travel’s cruise director Russell Adamson told Cruise Trade News how the company is focussing on expanding its expedition cruise offering, with the market segment tipped to be a popular choice for holidaymakers in 2025.
“We have a dedicated section on our website for cruise, and that’s been the focus at the moment, to build our offering and expand it so the customer is directed to it, but we do target our mailings and our e-shots with specific expedition offerings.”
On Tuesday (1 October), Nicki Tempest-Mitchell, director of sales and marketing for Barrhead, reported that luxury cruise holidays for the company were up three per cent compared with 2023 and mainstream cruise bookings were up 14 per cent, with the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Northern Europe and Alaska driving bookings.
‘We have the best cruise offering on the market for homeworkers’
“We expect to grow everything, not just expedition,” Adamson added. “As a business, we’re collectively looking for growth in all areas, on top of those great figures. The targets are set for next year and a key part of that is cruise.”
Linda Pyle, director of Brilliant Travel, Barrhead’s homeworking and MSTPs division, believes the brand has “the best cruise offering on the market” for agents looking to start their own business.
“For somebody wanting to set up a cruise business, there’s nobody better to talk to than us,” she claimed. “We’ve got some real key cruise specialists in the business, such as Sean and Ashley from the Swindon Travel Hub, The Cruise Room, and Paul from Now Lets Travel, to name a few, who really embrace the dynamic packaging side of things.
“We have a call every Wednesday with our homeworkers, and we get a supplier on to that call, which really helps our agents learn about a product and boost their confidence when it comes to selling a cruise.”
