Adriatic Holidays has appointed former Abercrombie & Kent agency sales manager Richard Hey as its trade development director to oversee its new strategy.

The operator specialises in gulet cruises in Croatia and Montenegro, and has a small selection of villas and apartments in Montenegro with between two and six bedrooms.

"At the start of the pandemic, they were really hungry to grow the business," said Hey. "We see the trade as a huge opportunity for us and feel now the time is right to launch to the trade.”

He said he was “starting from scratch” with agents, but that an agreement with Hays Travel was already in place would be improved on. Adriatic has also produced a 2022/23 brochure.

“I’ve reached out to the consortia and started a Facebook trade group," Hey continued. "We’re hoping to offer fams in April to showcase to agents.” Hey said Adriatic would offer the trade price parity.

Lead-in rates for gulet cruises are typically £1,299pp including flights and transfers on a half-board basis.

Vessels are six to eight cabins, and can be whole charters for groups. Adriatic uses the airports at Tivat and Dubrovnik as its gateways, with transfers of between 15 and 40 minutes.

The operator carried around 2,000 passengers a year before Covid, with ambitions to return to that level in 2022.

“We might expand in 2024," added Hey. "But at the moment, we just want to raise brand awareness among the trade."