Hundreds of agents sign up for CLIA Cruise Week event

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) UK & Ireland has revealed that over 400 travel agencies have already signed up for ‘The UK’s Biggest Cruise Event’ on September 16.

The event, which was announced just two weeks ago, forms a key part of this year’s CLIA Cruise Week. It will see both agents and cruise lines host promotional activity including customer-facing events, internal training, ship visits and social media campaign launches.

The efforts will be combined to help support the largest-ever coordinated cross-agent cruise gathering, with CLIA hoping over 1,000 agencies will take part.

Cruise Week is being held from September 15-21. The annual, trade-focused initiative is designed to promote and raise awareness of cruising to agents, and will this year continue the theme of #BeyondExpectations, first introduced at CLIA Conference in May.

CLIA member travel agents have also been asked to confirm their support of Cruise Week via a sign-up link ahead of August 22. This will ensure they receive all assets and relevant communications directly to their registered email, and they or their agency are also eligible to win from a catalogue of CLIA Cruise Week prizes, which will reward those who achieve the highest standards in promoting cruise across a number of platforms.

Almost 40 ocean, river, expedition, luxury and small ship cruise lines have also pledged their support throughout the week.

Andy Harmer, managing director of CLIA UK & Ireland, said: “We’re thrilled with the initial response we’ve had from the travel trade for ‘The UK’s Biggest Cruise Event’. It’s inspiring to see so many agencies coming together to champion cruise and we’re counting down to a record-breaking turnout.

“This year’s Cruise Week is all about showing how the industry goes beyond expectations and we’re excited to see the energy, creativity and passion that agents will bring to their campaigns.”

CLIA have previously confirmed that other Cruise Week plans include:

• Special trade incentives from cruise lines, running across the week – rewarding bookings, training and competition prize draws. The incentives will be supported by a series of webinars in the week ahead of Cruise Week, beginning September 8, allowing cruise lines to share incentive details and offer the latest brand updates.
• Registered agents will receive a Cruise Week digital toolkit, which will include all trade incentives, the official logo and social media content and registration links to the Cruise Week webinars – helping the trade boost enquiries and sales throughout the week and beyond.
• Multiple prizes will be awarded to agents who have actively supported Cruise Week, across numerous categories including best window or shop display, social media campaign, internal training event, customer-facing event and overall campaign.

For more information, go to cruising.org or head to the CLIA UK Travel Agent Facebook Group.

#CLIACruiseWeek #BeyondExpectations