CLIA sets course for Cruise Week

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) UK & Ireland has revealed further details and updates for Cruise Week, which is taking place from September 15-21.

The annual, trade-focused event is designed to promote and raise awareness of cruising to travel agents.

Six ‘Get ready for Cruise Week’ webinars have been announced for next week, during which supporting cruise lines will outline their campaign incentives and latest news:

• September 9, 9:30am: ocean cruise with Royal Caribbean, Windstar Cruises, Ambassador Cruise Line, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises, Celestyal and Silversea
• September 9, 3.30pm: river cruise with AmaWaterways, CroisiEurope, Scenic & Emerald Cruises, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, Riverside Luxury Cruises and Tauck
• September 11, 9:30am: river cruise with Amadeus River Cruises, APT, Avalon Waterways, Riviera Travel, TUI River Cruises and VIVA Cruises
• September 11, 3.30pm: ocean cruise with Marella Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Virgin Voyages and MSC Cruises
• September 12, 9.30am: expedition cruise with AE Expeditions, Albatros Expeditions, HX Expeditions, Ponant, Quark Expeditions and Swan Hellenic
• September 12, 3.30pm: luxury cruise with Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Crystal, SeaDream Yacht Club, Azamara Cruises and Cunard

Over 40 cruise lines and 3,000 travel agents have now signed up to participate in the week, which will continue the theme of #BeyondExpectations, first introduced at CLIA Conference in May.

The week includes “The UK’s Biggest Cruise Event” on September 16, which will see both agents and cruise lines host customer-facing events, internal training, ship visits and social media campaign launches. Their efforts will be combined to help support the largest-ever cross-agent cruise gathering, with over 1,000 agencies expected to take part.

Multiple prizes will be awarded to agents who actively support Cruise Week, across categories including best window or shop display, social media campaign, internal training event, customer-facing event and overall campaign.

Andy Harmer, managing director of CLIA UK & Ireland, said: “Cruise Week is all about shining a spotlight on the incredible role our travel agent community plays in bringing cruise holidays to life. The trade is at the very heart of our industry, and the training, sales tools, events and incentives on offer this year give them even more ways to inspire customers and grow their business.

“With more lines involved than ever before, and the theme of #BeyondExpectations driving creative campaigns, Cruise Week is the perfect opportunity for agents to showcase the diversity, value and excitement of a holiday at sea.”

For more information, go to https://trade.cruising.org/uk-ireland-clia-cruise-week or head to the CLIA UK Travel Agent Facebook Group.

#CLIACruiseWeek #BeyondExpectations