Travel agents have a “critical” part to play in boosting sales for Regent Seven Seas Cruises, according to the luxury line’s president.

Speaking at a press conference on the shakedown cruise for Seven Seas Splendor – the company’s new 750-passenger ultra-luxury ship – Jason Montague said the trade was perfectly placed to “articulate the benefits” of cruising with Regent.

He said: “If a customer is going to spend between £10,000 and £20,000 on a cruise, they need to understand what they are getting.

“They [travel agents] need to explain that Regent offers the inclusive cruise experience, where aside from the casino, shops and spa, everything on board is taken care of. Travel agents can help get the value proposition across to our guests.”

Seven Seas Splendor features 65 new excursions for guests and the line is looking at launching an excursions mobile app to improve the guest experience.

Montague also highlighted that 58 per cent of guests on Regent are repeat customers, stating that the line is “better booked than we have ever been in our history”.

He added: “Our guests are typically semi-retired or retired. They tend to be in their mid-sixties and wealthy. We are not all things to all people; we are focused on our demographics.”

As to the immediate future, the line is not, however, looking to enter the expedition cruise market.

“There are a lot of ships being built for this market at the moment and we think it is very busy. We are concentrating instead on being the best ocean cruise line. But never say never,” said Montague.

Regent’s UK managing director Graham Sadler said: “We now have a globalised approach to sales and sales in the UK and Europe are continuing to go from strength to strength. We don’t take a cookie-cutter approach to our ships. Seven Seas Splendor and Seven Seas Explorer are twins but they are not identical.

“We have the most luxurious fleet on the ocean and we are always looking at ways we can add to our proposition.”