Cruise helps Barrhead Travel near successive record-breaking year
The ongoing growth of the cruise sector in 2024 has helped Scottish travel agency group Barrhead Travel close in on a second successive record-breaking booking year
Speaking during the organisation’s 2024 conference in Ibiza on Tuesday (1 October), president of parent company Internova Travel Group Jacqueline Dobson said cruise business is up 13 per cent year-on-year.
Holidays-at-sea have performed consistently for the company so far this year. In January, departures from Southampton and Miami helped the group achieve a record-breaking Sunshine Saturday, while a near twenty-fold increase in river bookings helped it post its best-ever booking period for holidays-at-sea. In April, cruises from Southampton and Miami were among its best-selling holidays.
“I could not be any prouder of what [Barrhead’s agent members] have accomplished together this year,” Dobson said. “It has not been plain sailing over the last few months, with general elections, instability in certain destinations, severe weather conditions and of course the Microsoft outage. But on the backdrop of all of that your results have been incredible.”
So far in 2024 the agency has posted nine consecutive record months, “but we do not rest on our laurels, and next year is tipped to be even better,” Dobson said.
Next year marks Barrhead’s 50th anniversary, which Dobson said will see a range of events take place across the brand’s agency network, which now reaches England and Northern Ireland.
Nicki Tempest-Mitchell, director of sales and marketing for Barrhead, shared that luxury cruise holidays for the company were up three per cent compared with 2023 while mainstream cruise bookings were up 14 per cent, with the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Northern Europe and Alaska driving bookings.
Following significant investment from Barrhead in its river cruise portfolio, which saw the addition of a river cruise specialist in each of its branches, the company has seen a 43 per cent increase in bookings for the market segment.
Linda Pyle, director of Barrhead’s homeworking and MSTP division Brilliant Travel, said the arm has also seen an increase in cruise sales, with the company’s “comprehensive product offering” helping members to tap into this “burgeoning” market.
CLIA says Brits are cruising for longer
The conference also heard from CLIA UK and Ireland managing director Andy Harmer, who said cruise is “the place to be” at the moment. “The exciting thing about cruise is that it is hot right now,” he told delegates. “Interest has never been higher amongst non-cruisers and cruisers.”
He reassured agents that the growth in the CLIA ocean-going fleet is managed. “We grow three-and-a-half to four per cent each year”, he explained. “That managed growth limits our capacity in every market. Our global fleet is a fleet of thirds: a third of our ships are under 1,000 pax, a third between 1,000 and 3,000 and a third over 3,000.”
Current trends in the cruise industry, Harmer shared, include travellers looking to travel further. “Most Brits will stay pre- or post-night, so if you’re not offering these to your customers you’re missing an opportunity,” he advised.
Experience ‘critical’ to converting new-to-cruise customers
To close day one of the conference, delegates heard from a panel discussion which featured Celebrity Cruises vice president and managing director UK, Ireland and EMEA Giles Hawke; Virgin Atlantic director of UK agency sales Nikki Goldsmith; Riviera Travel trading director Stuart Milan; and Seabourn vice president UK, Europe and MEA Lynn Narraway.
The group were united in their messaging on the importance of experience when it comes to selling cruises. “We have focussed on merging experiences between land and sea so people have amazing experiences on board and on shore,” Hawke said.
Goldsmith echoed Hawke’s comments, explaining how after the Covid-19 pandemic, customers prioritised experiential travel. “We came out of [Covid] and started prioritising experiences. We now live in a social media world and people want the bragging rights of being in these exclusive places.”
Milan, meanwhile, believed the customer is the one driving this demand for experience-based holidays. “They want to see more and get into the heart of these destinations; the culture, the history and the food and wine. We are here to work for the customers.”
However, in the ultra luxury market, Narraway said agents are the key drivers of the demand for “special” holidays. “With everything we’ve heard, it’s clear that [agents] can drive that demand by knowing their customers – their anniversaries, birthdays, where they’ve been etc. – which will help drive demand.”
