Andy Harmer, Clia managing director UK and Ireland, announced the new campaign onboard P&O Cruises’ newest vessel Arvia on Sunday (14 May) during the final day of this year’s Clia Conference.
The new programme will include regional ship visits for agents across the UK and Ireland, which have been arranged in partnership with various cruise lines, in August this year.
All visits will include updates from industry leaders, as well as a tour and complimentary lunch.
They include Seabourn Quest on 1 August in Dover, Norwegian Dawn on 4 August in Newcastle, Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam on 11 August in Belfast, Crystal Serenity on 22 August in Southampton and Oceania Cruises’ Vista on 25 August in Liverpool.
Harmer also announced the annual Clia Cruise Week will be held from September 18-24, which will see a range of agent-friendly initiatives and updates, and next year’s RiverView river cruise conference will take place in Amsterdam, with dates TBC.
This year’s river cruise residential is on September 28-29, with the venue TBC, and a new Clia Destination Residential will be held in Porto in the autumn.
All delegates will be hosted onboard Norwegian Prima as part of the event, with additional ship visit options to include Seabourn Ovation and a number of river cruise ships.
Specialist cruise webinars – covering Europe and worldwide river cruise, plus ultra-luxury, expedition and yacht and sail – have been arranged for agents looking to boost their knowledge in these bespoke areas. The webinars will take place in June, September and October.
Harmer said: "This approach recognises agents have a range of requirements, from focusing on certain sectors such as expedition and river cruise, to those who want to explore ships, to those who want to be inspired by experts, to those who have just started their cruise selling journey.
"We are encouraging all agents to take advantage of this wealth of opportunities, as cruise continues to go from strength to strength."
