In April, the agency introduced its Cruise Designer scheme to help its homeworkers learn more about the cruise industry and increase bookings, to which nearly 80 of the Ramsbottom-based company’s 110 homeworkers signed up.
“Each month, we choose two cruise lines to focus on,” Designer Travel managing director Amanda Matthews told TTG. “We then do all the training for the lines and promote them with the view that by the end of 12 months we are more familiar with 24 cruise lines and we can then see where it takes us.”
The agency had hoped the Cruise Designer programme would double its 2019 cruise turnover of just over £300,000 by the end of 2022. However, just 10 weeks after it launched, the company had already achieved £1 million in turnover – surpassing 2019 levels by 185%.
“It’s just been amazing,” said Matthews. “We have had fantastic support from our cruise line partners, which we’re starting to build better and stronger relationships with.”
Matthews reported a “mixed bag” of bookings, with some customers opting for last-minute Mediterranean holidays while others were booking “bucket-list” trips to destinations such as Alaska for 2023 and 2024 departures.
Over the 10-week period, the agency’s most popular line was Celebrity Cruises, with 12 guests choosing to sail onboard new Edge-class ship Celebrity Beyond.
“We didn’t exactly know how well [the new initiative] would work,” Matthews continued. “We’re trading above 2019, we’re trading well over 100% up across the whole business, and the cruise boost is definitely driving some of that growth.”
