Travelbiz Joins Celebrity Cruises as they Honour Travel Partners for their tenacious loyalty at 2024 Travel Agent appreciation awards.

Don Shearer (Travelbiz) was delighted to attend and support Celebrity Cruises as they celebrated travel partners and awarded them for their exceptional efforts at its annual Travel Agent Appreciation Awards. The award-winning cruise line rewarded an impeccable line up of valued trade partners in recognition of those who went above and beyond in the last 12 months towards supporting its business.

Held on 11th January at the ME London, the event saw over 80 travel partners come together and a total of nine awards presented to key industry figures, celebrating their commitment to not only Celebrity Cruises, but the wider industry too. The awards were hosted by Celebrity Cruises’ Vice President & Managing Director EMEA, Giles Hawke, Senior Sales Director for UK & Ireland, Claire Stirrup and Head of Sales UK & Ireland, Nicola McNeish.

Giles Hawke, Vice President & Managing Director, EMEA, for Celebrity Cruises said: “I am delighted to join everyone today for my first Travel Agent Appreciation Awards.  Today is about celebrating all of our travel partners and thanking them for their continuous support.  The Above and Beyond Award winners demonstrated their commitment to the sector by reaching new milestones, driving business success and showcasing innovative strategies in 2023.”

The full list of Celebrity Cruises 2024 Travel Agent Appreciation Awards winners include:

• Cassidy Travel – commended for their significant increase in Celebrity Cruises bookings, demonstrating huge growth and potential in the Irish market
• Oasis Travel – noted for their use of innovative VR technology to showcase Celebrity Cruises product, a driving force for attracting new customers
• Imagine Cruising – recognised for working tirelessly to develop bespoke packages to differentiate themselves
• Designer Travel – who have executed a robust training plan and immersed themselves in Celebrity’s in-house training programme, Celebrity Cruises for Beginners
• Stewart Travel – called out for their loyalty and passion for Celebrity Cruises, which is demonstrated by their incredible volume growth
• Hays Travel – celebrated for their significant investment into the cruise industry, with national endorsement of Celebrity Cruises alongside creative marketing plans and new training initiatives
• Cruise 118 – this partner has been recognised for their tenacious motivation and commitment to engaging customers which has resulted in significant growth last year
• The Advantage Travel Partnership – recognised for their consistent proactive marketing and innovative engagement opportunities – always ensuring that Celebrity Cruises is at the forefront of customers minds
• Iglu Cruise – noted for continually striving for excellence and seeking multiple opportunities for mutual growth between Celebrity Cruises and Iglu

Hawke added “2023 was an incredible for Celebrity Cruises, as we ended the year on a high with the launch of our fourth Edge Series ship, the brand-new Celebrity Ascent. We also announced that Celebrity Apex will be homeporting in Southampton for a second year in 2025 – this is testament to the loyalty from our travel partners which contributes to our ever-growing confidence in the UK market. We have seen an impressive start to Wave and are looking forward to another great year in 2024. I’m honoured to celebrate a room full of industry greats, and to have the opportunity to say thank you to our travel agent community, who will always be at the heart of our brand.

I am delighted to have joined the Celebrity brand and have the honour of working with such an incredibly dedicated sales team. Our Travel Agent Appreciation Awards are not just about celebrating our travel partners, but also recognising the extremely successful relationships that our team have built across the industry.”

Celebrity Cruises is set for another record-breaking year, in which relationships with valuable trade partners will continue to flourish. Travel partners are being supported with Celebrity’s rich offers throughout Wave, offering their clients up to 75% off the second guest, and elevated with further attractive offers, including flights to Europe from £49 and reduced All Included offerings.

Agents will continue to ‘Earn on Every Booking’ in 2024, as the top 100 agents have the chance to win £500 each, on top of earning a £50 bonus on the first five new bookings they make, and new-to-cruise agents will also earn a £25 bonus for the first three bookings that they make and claim on Celebrity Rewards.

Travel partners can also download Celebrity’s digital 2024 brochure and agents can now make their orders for printed copies of the UK & Ireland 2024-2026 brochure via Celebrity Central.