Travel Counsellors welcomed Virgin Voyages to its central hub in Manchester last week for a “drop-in training day” amid a recent surge in ocean and river bookings 

The one-day event saw up to thirty of the company’s business owners and support team colleagues hear about the latest news from the ocean line, while learning about sales promotions and information to pass onto customers.

The theme of the day was “Bring on Barcelona”, in celebration of Virgin Voyages‘ wave season trade incentive campaign.

Alongside a spread of Spanish-themed food and drink served throughout the day, attendees were given a tour through Virgin Voyages’ booking platform and formed a live audience for a “TSeaTV” special in the company’s in-house studio.

It comes after the homeworking agency saw cruise business increase in recent weeks, with agents making 37% more ocean and river cruise bookings than this time last year.

Travel Counsellors experiencing surge in cruise demand

Janet Whittingham, head of cruise at Travel Counsellors, said: “It was wonderful to welcome our valued supplier partner Virgin Voyages to Travel Counsellors support team centre last week and shine a spotlight on the host of highlights our customers can enjoy on board.

“Hosting the day as a ‘drop-in’ opportunity also enabled our TCs to soak in all the latest Virgin Voyages information while continuing to be there for their customers at such a busy time of the year over peaks.”

Jack Atherton, UK sales manager for Virgin Voyages, added: “We were delighted to host our dedicated office takeover with Travel Counsellors, it was great to spend time with a mixture of people both new to selling Virgin Voyages and with those who have travelled with us and have fallen in love with our product.

“The passion and commitment within the network is growing and it is great to see the variety of TCs making bookings for themselves and their customers. I am really looking forward to our partnership going from strength to strength in 2024.”