The brand, which sells shore excursions independent of cruise lines, now makes 52% of its turnover from trade sales and has appointed Kirsty Bachelor as trade sales manager.

Bachelor was previously head of sales north-west Europe at HotelsPro and, prior to that, sales manager at Monarch Travel Group. She also spent four years in ancillary sales at Affordable Car Hire.

The Cruising Excursions sales team is also bolstered with three other appointments, two of which are yet to be confirmed. The first of these, Amy-Jo Liddington, has joined as guest service sales team leader from Thomas Cook.

Liddington spent five years with Cook, becoming a branch manager earlier this year. She will be based with the sales team in Cannock, providing back office support to the trade.

Damien Mooney, Cruising Excursions’ managing director, said the brand had worked with the trade since 2011 and wanted to strengthen that relationship. “This is an exciting progression;
[Kirsty] brings a lot of experience to the business,” he said.

Bachelor added: “Last year Cruising Excursions launched its PDF brochure facility for agents and one of my first tasks will be to lead the introduction of brochure automation. The facility will allow agents to seamlessly reach all of their booked cruise customers, to increase excursion sales and
maximise commission income.”