Lines think long and hard about how to maximise agents’ time onboard, some of whom will be stepping onto a ship for the first time. At best, they might experience a vessel for an afternoon.
Andrew Turner, who has been AE Expeditions’ EMEA sales director for seven months, wants to change that.
“I’m looking at whether AE Expeditions can do overnight voyages with travel agents onboard in 2026,” he explains.
“I would love to show agents what an onboard lecture or dinner is like, show them how our passengers feel.
"Yes, it’s lovely being able to bring agents onboard for an afternoon, but we’re not really giving them a true expedition cruise experience.”
’Organic’ growth
Turner, who spent seven-and-a-half years at Intrepid Travel before joining global DMC Discova in 2020 and later HF Holidays, hopes the ship visit tweak will help his team attract the right agents to the brand.
But don’t be fooled into thinking Sydney-headquartered AE Expeditions necessarily needs to make changes.
Since taking up his role in April, Turner says UK and Irish bookings are up by nearly a third (32%), while around 85% of sales currently come via the trade.
Asked how the UK market is performing, Turner says: “Around 40% of our business is coming from Australia.
"There is a surge from the US and Canada, and organic growth from the UK. Here, we’re going for a ‘less is more’ approach in terms of trade distribution. We will only work with partners who want to work with us.”
Around 145 UK and Irish agents have made at least one AE Expeditions booking in the past two years, according to Turner.
“Every expedition line wants to stand out,” he continues. “But they should be thinking, are we targeting the right customer? AE Expeditions is not mass market.”
Another part of this ongoing vetting process has Turner wondering whether to link up with a new venture from his predecessor Jos Dewing.
Earlier this year, after leaving AE, Dewing created the ExplorEarth platform, which promotes destinations, ships and cruises and features a matching-engine to generate booking leads for agents. Turner confirms AE Expeditions is currently discussing joining ExplorEarth, with a trial imminent.
’Destinations first’
Turner is also hopeful of announcing a tie-in with what he describes as a “major brand”. “The partnership is about attaching a brand to us which resonates with our customer demographic,” he explains, albeit while declining to name the company until everything is confirmed.
Turner stresses the “focus” for AE Expeditions and its customers is “wildlife”. “The destinations come first, not the ship,” he insists.
With that in mind, AE Expeditions announced in early September its first-ever voyages to south- east Asia, the Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean, coming in 2026. The 154-passenger Douglas Mawson, the line’s yet-to-launch third ship, will operate the new Med programme.
Turner returns to his earlier point about attracting the right customer. “The worst thing is if we get a customer expecting lobster on ice and white-gloved butlers,” he explains.
“There’s a lot less pressure on us because of the size of our ships, but we need to make sure we get the right customers onboard.”
And to do that, you feel Turner must enhance the experience agents have when they board an AE Expeditions ship so they can fully grasp who they should be selling its sailings to.
