CLIA UK & Ireland Informer January 2015

January 2015

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CLIA UK & Ireland Informer

www.cruiseexperts.org

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Let’s make 2015 the Year of Cruise

CLIA Cruise Forum

A few photos from the Event...more on Flickr!

Consumer & Travel Law Update Join us on January 15th for free event

Cruise Excellence Awards 2014 The Winners of 2014

Pete’s Training

How To Survive As A Travel Agent In The Digital World

Welcome to 2015!

Welcome to your January 2015 Informer – a new year and a whole new opportunity for cruise holidays.

2015 promises to be an incredibly exciting year for the cruise industry with new ship launches, new ships sailing from the UK, and continued growth in the number of people choosing to take their first cruise holiday.

Want to make the most of these new opportunities? Then make a new year’s resolution to embrace the UK & Ireland Cruise Community enthusiastically and fully – and the best way to do so is to put CLIA at the heart of your strategy.

We have the industry training and accreditation, unique resources, networking opportunities, and some awesome events including our January Travel Law Seminar, and our flagship Selling Cruise Conference.

We hope to see more of you this year online or in person!

Have a great 2015.

Andy Harmer Director

www.cruiseexperts.org

Our CLIA Cruise Forum Gallery...

For more photos, please check out our Flickr Gallery

CliaUkIreland

CLIA UK & Ireland Informer

www.cruiseexperts.org

Consumer & Travel Law Update

Thursday 15 January | London - Venue TBC This new event on the CLIA calendar has a wide range of informative & insightful sessions run by a senior member of the Holiday & Travel Law community.

FREE EVENT

The sessions will advise you on the most recent legislation & cases in the UK and Abroad.

Included within this are the latest updates on: •

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Package Travel Directive – including Dynamic Packaging and ‘Assisted Travel Arrangements’ Consumer Rights Directive Flight Plus Law around social media Law around Guide Prices Handling cruise complaints European & International Laws and Conventions

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We are delighted to announce that booking is now open.

Attendance is free and available to all:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/clia-consumer-travel-law-update-tickets-14871640477

The Early Bird Rate for CLIA Travel Agent Members (£50+VAT) can’t last forever.

Head to www.cliauk.co.uk our dedicated mobile site for the latest info!

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CLIA UK & Ireland Informer

www.cruiseexperts.org

Cruise agents who have shown innovation, expertise and have contributed to the success of cruising were honoured at the CLIA UK & Ireland Cruise Excellence Awards 2014 on board Fred.

Olsen Cruise Line’s Black Watch in Tilbury (Wednesday 17 December).

The awards recognise those who have demonstrated exceptional levels of knowledge, leadership and inspiration.

The Rising Star award was a new entry for 2014 and was presented to Cruise Nation which demonstrated its ability to innovate and adapt to the changing scene within the cruise market and showed ambition, expertise and leadership.

The Innovation in Cruise award was presented to The Cruise Village which has invested in its business by strengthening its team with home-workers, has encouraged staff to broaden their knowledge through active training and has branched out into other areas including river cruising.

Homeworker of the Year went to Martin Hay of GoCruise. Martin was identified as an individual who has not only been successful selling cruise holidays but has been a great advocate for the industry. He has shown an appetite to continually enhance his knowledge and constantly looks for opportunities within all sectors of the industry.

Young Travel Agent of the Year went to Katy Porter of World Travel Holdings who at just 23 years old has already become a million pound seller and one of the company’s top performers. She is committed to selling cruise and the service she provides is reflected in the exceptional feedback received from customers.

The Online Cruise Agency of the Year award was presented for the third year running to Iglu and reflected the continued growth and innovation shown by the company. Iglu fully utilises all aspects of ecommerce while ensuring staff are continually trained and updated on what’s new within the cruise industry.

High Street Cruise Agency of the Year went to Trailfinders. Despite cruise having a relatively small share of their overall business, the company demonstrated a positive attitude to cruise holidays having increased their range of products and having a dedicated team leading their growth in cruise.

Travel Agent Business of the Year was awarded to World Travel Holdings, a relatively new business but one which demonstrated rapid growth across multiple brands using different platforms.

The CLIA UK & Ireland Award for Outstanding Contribution to the UK & Ireland Cruise Community was jointly presented to Michael English of Celebrity Cruises and Angela Flynn from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines for their significant contribution to the success of UK cruising. Both Michael and Angela have committed themselves to working tirelessly with the travel trade, encouraging greater engagement to the benefit of the industry, and they have shown themselves as true ambassadors for cruising.

CLIA UK & Ireland director Andy Harmer said: ‘I’m delighted we have been able to recognise

some truly outstanding people and companies who have gone over and above expectations in promoting and selling cruise holidays.’

CLIA Training Page

www.cruiseexperts.org

How to survive as a Travel Agent in the Digital World By Peter Kollar, CLIA Australasia

There have been many symposiums over the past couple of years addressing the issue of Travel Agent survival given that online booking platforms are becoming more abundant.

The consensus from these forums addressed by key industry figures is that the Travel Agent is still needed. But how can you ensure your success?

The first thing that you need to establish is Value Creation. In other words: You have to identify what people don’t have enough of, then find a way to provide it for them.

In the world of cruise booking platforms, an agent will always have personability and service AHEAD of internet booking, so assess yourself to find ways you can further develop this strength. What is it about you or your business that resonates with your customer? What doi they “value”? How can you better this?

Let’s not forget “value” has a different meaning to different people, it’s not always about money.

If it IS price and if you’re someone that has cheap deals to offer to the market you have to make sure that not only is your service great but your administration and procedures are seemless, because it is this type of booking that competes strongest against internet bookings. This still works, because you are still identifying what people don’t have enough of (cheap deals), but still providing it for them, but your processes and services must be exceptional too.

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Much research point to Cruise Travel Agent evolution likely to move towards focusing on specialised bookings, mainly complex itineraries or niche products.

This is where the general public struggle to make bookings independently, and you are providing it for them. It tends to be a tougher and more time consuming booking, but higher potential margins.

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You will find the rest of this article online at www.cruiseexperts.org in the Members Hub (after log-in).

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