Regent Travel partnered with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines to host the event at the village hall in the agency’s Staffordshire home of Stone to talk about the line’s recently launched Worldwide Cruise Holidays 2020/21 programme.

Owner David Barrett said despite only attracting “about half” its regular customer uptake for such an event, Regent decided to go ahead, with Fred Olsen field sales manager Mathew Foxcroft there to give clients a presentation on the new programme.

The event was held on Friday 6 March and, by Monday, the agency had booked around 30 passengers for cruises next year – amounting to a six-digit boost in revenue, including a largest sale value of £15,000.

“We were debating whether to go ahead with it, but at our last team meeting, we decided we wanted to show it’s business as usual,” Barrett told TTG.

“It just goes to show the confidence is there for 2021 and people do still want to travel despite what’s going on. I’d say to other agents, don’t be afraid to market and hold events – it could pay off.”

Barrett added: “It’s going to be a difficult few months; we’re focusing our efforts on September onwards, but there was great positivity from our customers.”