We speak to Dave Chidley from GoCruise about his daily routines and his never-to-be-forgotten moments in the cruise industry…

My alarm goes off at…
My alarm rarely ever gets a chance to go off as either Louis, my son, or Rufus, the sausage dog, make sure I am up to tend to their every demand at some unearthly hour. However, I am aiming to do more sunrise beach yoga and meditation, so that will involve an early start every day.

My job entails…
I recently set up my own GoCruise and Travel franchise – an easy choice as I have known and loved working with franchisees and support team management for many years. The aim is that in a few years Rachel, my partner, and I will run the business together as our full-time job. In the meantime, I also work as the agency sales manager for Fred Holidays, with the aim of strengthening trade relationships.

It also means that I am back at a start-up, as we have recently taken the GSA for Victory Cruise Lines in the UK; we are also GSAs for Pullmantur Cruises. In addition, we are building the trade relationship with the Fred Holidays European Tailor Made Holiday team.

A typical day involves…
As I now wear two hats in my professional life, I like to keep both parts very separate. With my new ‘lifestyle’, I always start the day with a coffee and 20 minutes ‘me’ time (I now meditate!). I either go sit on the beach – as we live a stone’s throw from the sea – or out on our balcony.

I will then spend an hour or so checking my GoCruise and Travel business and reacting accordingly. It will then be time to start my Fred Holidays work, where every day is different. I could be conducting webinars from the home office, replying to the requests of our trade partners or attending trade events. In the evenings, I will pick up my GoCruise work once again.

The worst part is…
The feeling that you have the most incredible product (with Victory Cruise Lines) and only a handful of people currently know about it. I want to shout it from the rooftops.

I love it when…
I have been to a meeting with a travel partner who knew nothing about Fred Holidays, then agreeing marketing and putting plans in place. To then see them start to sell our products gives me an immense amount of satisfaction.

We aim to bring to the table…
At Fred Holidays, we are trying to strengthen the ties between our brands and the UK trade.

I’d shake up the industry by…
CLIA does an amazing job. I would love to see every person that sells cruise carry out and complete the CLIA training as a minimum.