Speaking at the Travel Network Group’s Get On Board cruise conference in Birmingham last week, Andy Harmer reminded agents that the sector today was almost unrecognisable from when cruising first started being considered as a holiday option some 40 years ago.

“Customers are now seeing cruise in a very different way. And agents that were selling cruise 10 or 15 years ago will have seen huge changes in customer behaviour,” he said.

“We have a range of products now – the language we use to sell cruise is different, and we now sell cruise in a very different way. It doesn’t matter what language you use. If you say floor instead of deck, that’s ok – that’s what it is. The same if you say bedroom rather than cabin – it has a bed, you sleep in it, that’s what it is. I don’t care – it doesn’t matter to me. But it really isn’t a boat,” Harmer laughed. “These are ships”.

It came as Harmer highlighted that $60 billion had been invested in new ships by the sector, with 29 new ships set to be launched in the next two years.

Later, Richard Twynam, managing director UK and Ireland for Azamara Club Cruise highlighted that 65million people travel to Las Vegas annually – “cruise still has a long way to go”, he pointed out.

Twynam also urged agents to specialise. “That can make a huge difference,” he said. “At Azamara we changed our business model to talk about destination. Know your product in depth, and be passionate about it”.

Meanwhile Gary Murphy, vice president of sales and co-owner of AmaWaterways discussed the line’s new ship set to be launched next year, which will be the largest river ship to set sail on European waters.

Asked by TTG during a panel discussion on stage if he believed the move would set a trend for others to follow, Murphy replied: “I’m sure others will follow suit. If we’re successful we’ll see other lines also launching bigger ships. They’ll be watching [this launch] closely”.