The curtain is coming down on a sizzling summer, during which Virgin Voyages has hosted 1,200 agents in a handful of UK cities onboard a revamped Valiant Lady. SJ Walker, the line's UK Sales Director, tells TTG how agents have reacted to the line's renewed focus on the trade – and where the brand goes from here.
Virgin Voyages' Sales Director SJ Walker reveals new-to-brand agents have become more confident about selling the adults-only line over the summer
While Virgin Voyages has no plans to return to Portsmouth – its spiritual UK home – next year, Sales Director SJ Walker's hopes of reaching more UK agents than ever before have not been dampened.
Last month, 1,200 agents experienced a revamped Valiant Lady ship during its UK tour, hosting agents in six cities – including Portsmouth. According to Walker, around 950 of the 1,200 agents who attended one of the ship visits had never experienced Virgin Voyages before.
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The curtain is coming down on a sizzling summer, during which Virgin Voyages has hosted 1,200 agents in a handful of UK cities onboard a revamped Valiant Lady. SJ Walker, the line's UK Sales Director, tells TTG how agents have reacted to the line's renewed focus on the trade – and where the brand goes from here.
Virgin Voyages' Sales Director SJ Walker reveals new-to-brand agents have become more confident about selling the adults-only line over the summer
While Virgin Voyages has no plans to return to Portsmouth – its spiritual UK home – next year, Sales Director SJ Walker's hopes of reaching more UK agents than ever before have not been dampened.
Last month, 1,200 agents experienced a revamped Valiant Lady ship during its UK tour, hosting agents in six cities – including Portsmouth. According to Walker, around 950 of the 1,200 agents who attended one of the ship visits had never experienced Virgin Voyages before.
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The return on investment has been startling. Walker names two agents – Katie Lyons and Robbie-Lee Dickie – who made Virgin Voyages bookings soon after their ship visit in Glasgow on 8 August.
Lyons, of Brilliant Travel, booked herself a Caribbean cruise on Brilliant Lady in November, while Barrhead Travel agent Dickie made two bookings for customers within five days of the visit.
As you'd expect, Walker and her team are looking out for every available bit of intel. She reveals, confidently, that those agents who joined a Valiant Lady ship visit became more confident about selling Virgin Voyages. How?
Well before they got on the ship, they were asked "how confident are you about selling Virgin Voyages?". Some 57% described themselves as "confident" at that point. However, when they disembarked, that figure had increased to 91%.
Unsurprisingly, August was a record-breaking month for the line in terms of revenue, which was 30% up by year-on-year. Revenue, though, is not the only metric where Virgin Voyages is seeing huge growth. Average per diems (revenue per passenger per day) and average selling values have also jumped this year, Walker adds.
Brilliant Travel agent Katie Lyons booked herself on Virgin Voyages' Brilliant Lady this winter soon after getting off Valiant Lady in August
"Travel agents have been key to our success in the UK," she says. "And one of the really big initiatives we also drove in August was the Valiant Lady Summer Tour."
Tellingly, Walker says the aim is to increase Virgin Voyages' trade reach next year despite having no plans to return to Portsmouth. The adults-only line has sailed from Portsmouth every summer since it launched maiden ship, Scarlet Lady, in 2021.
"We will want to increase our trade reach, albeit without Valiant Lady in Portsmouth, but we will look to do trade activations both onboard, online, and face-to-face," she explains.
Walker then goes one step further and hints at hosting agents overseas. Virgin Voyages is just a few weeks away from signing off 2027 budgets, but Walker hopes overseas ship visits "will be part of the plan".
Virgin Voyages has previously done "ad hoc" overseas ship visits with agencies independently, but Walker intends to do "some broader scale ship visits" in destinations.
"I've said it before, I'll say it again: the best way for agents to learn is first-hand experience," she insists. "We've got a very talented team that can really bring our brand to life both online and face-to-face.
"We will try to get agents onboard to experience ships first-hand, whether that be overseas or via experiential incentives. I feel we're in a prime position to give the best support for the travel agents."
However, Walker rules out recruitment for the time being. "Having the right level of support has definitely made a big difference," she explains. "We've been able to support agents in a way that's been tailored for them.
"Reaching the OTAs, the homeworkers and the branches has been critical for us. We've been able to like support the Valiant Lady Summer Tour as our biggest trade activation this year."
Walker believes building confidence among consumers and travel agents has been "absolutely key". Virgin Voyages' repeat booking rate is currently running at nearly 40%.
Sales built nicely throughout the summer with 13 August being Virgin Voyages' biggest revenue day of all time, surpassing its previous record set during Black Friday in November last year.
Walker says demand for its first Scandinavia and Baltics programme drove these bumper booking levels. The programme features five new itineraries covering the Scandinavian capitals, the Norwegian Fjords and even the Arctic Circle.
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Four of the sailings are round-trip itineraries from Amsterdam which has received unwanted media attention in recent years as anti-cruise protestors have repeatedly targeted the city's port.
However, Walker dismisses any concerns agents may have about selling these cruises. "I sailed into Amsterdam on our ship [in August]," she explains. "It was delightful. The city is walking distance so there are no shuttle buses – it's all very central. Amsterdam is an incredible city."
Meanwhile, it has not escaped Virgin Voyages Chief Executive Nirmal Saverimuttu's attention that the UK market is booming right now for the line.
"Nirmal has been on the phone directly to me several times over the last few months, congratulating myself and the team's successes," explains Walker. "The UK market has been critical to the brand. It is the second largest market for us."
This month, Virgin Voyages will meet 3,000 agents through an agency shop visit programme designed to share the line's messaging around the Caribbean. Walker says the programme should be called "Kid-free Caribbean".
"We'll be talking about key points around [Virgin Voyages's private island destination] Bimini Beach Club, ship-to-shore messaging, shore excursions," she adds. "So those are great things that we can talk about around how we bring Caribbean to life in a Virgin Voyages way."
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