The expert travel agent predicted that in light of Thomas Cook’s collapse, we can expect an increase in the number of homeworker travel agents.

Speaking at the ABTA New Markets in Cruise conference, the eponymous MD of Miles Morgan Travel discussed how it is more important than ever that cruise lines and trade work closely together as he predicts a growing number travel agents will opt to work remotely.

The collapse of the travel giant Thomas Cook last week shook the industry, resulting in 20,000 staff, including 9,000 in the UK, being left out of work. The travel and cruise industries have therefore been rallying to help agents affected, with several offering employment schemes and support.

The homeworker is one of the biggest areas of growth in the cruise sector, and as such, it is vital that cruise lines provide valuable training to help them, according to Morgan.

He stressed the importance of webinars as a “vital part of the training programme” and a great way to “talk to a collection of people in one location”. Giving advice at the conference on how travel agents can sell to non-cruisers and first-timers, Morgan highlighted how the most important point is for agents “to know their stuff”.

“In order to sell cruises to people who don’t know cruises, you need to be ready for those everyday cruise questions,” he said. “Understanding what your customer likes and matching that with the cruise is the real skill.”

For Morgan, it is imperative that agents are prepared for those “misconceptions about cruise” and from their knowledge, to be able “to match the client to the right ship and the cruise”. Education from the cruise lines is therefore key as according to Morgan, “there has never been a better time to sell cruise than this year,” despite Brexit and the falling pound.

“Customers are looking for certainty with their holiday and for value, and cruise is great value for money,” he added.

In order to inform their clients, Morgan also highlighted the importance of ship visits as this is without a doubt the best way for agents, particularly those who are not based in an office, to understand the product delivery.

Saga Cruises’ head of trade sales Iain Powell, who spoke with Morgan as part of a panel discussion at the recent ABTA conference, agreed with the idea of ship visits being of paramount importance and that this is something Saga takes seriously.

“There is a growing rise in the overnight ship visit as it adds more value for the agent,” he said. “They want to go away feeling as though they’ve learnt something and longer visits are the way to do that. we took 700 agents away for a couple of days for the Saga Spirit of Discovery preview sailing and they really got to experience what it’s like as a customer.”

For Powell, he and the rest of the Saga team are committed to working closely with agents, whether they’re a homeworker or office-based, as “they are in the best place to make bookings”.