The CTN Take: How agencies like Barrhead will use cruise to thrive
Barrhead Travel has cemented its position as one of the most successful agency groups in the UK and it has the cruise industry to thank for it. CTN deputy editor Will Payne reveals why now’s the perfect time for other agencies to get on board with this burgeoning sector
If there’s one thing I took away from the 2024 Barrhead Conference in Ibiza last week – as well as a newfound love for house music and David Guetta – it’s that the cruise sector will be a key driving force for agencies looking to rapidly expand in 2025.
Take Barrhead Travel, for example. Since its inception in 1975, the business has grown from one shop in the Glasgow suburb to now being one of the UK’s biggest retail travel firms, with more than 80 branches.
What’s more, the firm is tipped to post a second successive record-breaking year come 1 January 2025, and there are no signs of these blossoming results withering away.
So when the invite to the conference landed in my inbox, I leapt at the chance. Three days in Ibiza during October? It was a no brainer.
Yet, I was concerned the cruise content (the only bit I’m concerned about) would only make up a small fraction of the overall agenda. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Cruise is helping agents sail to UK domination
Cruise makes up for more than a third of Barrhead’s total bookings, which is why the conference was dominated by panel sessions and talks from the likes of Carnival Cruise Line, Riviera Travel, P&O Cruises and Celebrity Cruises.
So far this year 350 of the company’s agent members have attended 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”.
Luxury cruise holidays for the company are up three per cent compared with 2023 while mainstream cruise bookings are up 14 per cent, with sailings to the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Northern Europe and Alaska among its most popular options.
Barrhead has also invested significantly in its river cruise portfolio, appointing a river cruise specialist in each of its branches. As a result, Barrhead has seen a 43 per cent increase in bookings for the market segment.
And it’s not just the Scottish agency which is benefitting from the strength of the cruise sector. Earlier this year, Hays Travel’s cruise arm, Vista, smashed all booking targets for Q1, exceeding its original goal by nearly 50 per cent.
Not Just Travel, meanwhile, reported a “significant” surge in cruise sales with a 64 per cent increase in revenues as Travel Counsellors praised cruise holidays for helping it top £1 billion in sales for the first time.
What’s more, these results are translating into more agents engaging with the industry than ever before. Managing director of CLIA UK and Ireland Andy Harmer told Cruise Trade News that the association has seen an increase in the number of agents who typically sell land-based breaks venturing into the ocean-going holiday sector.
Barrhead utilises holidays-at-sea in ‘all segments’ of the business
For Barrhead, it isn’t just the high street agencies utilising cruise to tap into a new strain of client. Each part of the company, such as its homeworking and MSTPs arm, has implemented strategies to use the sector to boost business, bring in new customers and lock-in repeat sales.
Linda Pyle, director of Barrhead’s MSTPs and homeworking division Brilliant Travel, beamed when I asked her about the importance of cruise to her agent cohort.
She also laid down the gauntlet for Barrhead’s competitors, signalling the firm’s ambitions to continue its rapid expansion on the high street. “For somebody wanting to set up a cruise business, there’s nobody better to talk to than us,” she claimed.
At the same time, I spoke with the president of Barrhead’s parent company Internova Leisure, Jacqueline Dobson, who’s passion for agents, cruise and travel is more apparent than my passion for conferences held on a particular Balearic Island. When I asked if she would like to see more cruise departures from Scotland, I received one of the most straightforward answers I’ve ever had during my time as a journalist. “Obviously”.
It’s clear Scotland – and Barrhead Travel – can pack ships of all sizes with cruise-goers eager to take to the high seas for their next holiday. The agency has several fruitful years ahead of it and it’s safe to say cruise is, and will continue to be, a vital cog in that machine, and something other UK agencies can and should use to broaden their remit and smash their sales targets.
Will Payne is deputy editor of Cruise Trade News and World of Cruising
