Oceania’s senior vice-president and managing director EMEA is in a jovial mood.

The line has seen “massive demand” for its longer sailings (its 180-day world cruise sold out in 48 hours) and a new sales team restructure means “we’re going to be able to take that Oceania service to a whole new level for our trade partners”. 

After the past 18 months of chaos and turmoil, it’s understandable why Bernard Carter is feeling optimistic.

“Forward demand is very strong indeed,” he smiles happily. “We had a massive launch for Vista in September [the line’s newest ship, set to debut in April 2023] and then three weeks later, we went on sale for summer and autumn 2023 with the rest of the fleet, and again, it blew the doors off!” 

BOLSTERING THE TEAM

Much like the rest of the travel industry, Carter has noticed a trend in customers looking to spend more. 

“People are choosing longer, more unique itineraries. They’re looking to go to places they wouldn’t have otherwise gone. If they’ve taken two cruises a year previously, they’ll take four. 

“If they normally travel in a Veranda Suite, they’ll go in a Penthouse. People are treating themselves after having been locked up for so long,” he says. And Oceania has made significant changes to its sales team in order to capitalise on this rise in demand.

The line’s five-strong group - including newly appointed UK and Ireland sales director Louise Craddock (who replaced Priti Mehta after she left the business last month to pursue a new career opportunity” – subsequently announced as Explora Journey’s UK and Ireland head of sales) are “chomping at the bit” following the team’s restructure, says Carter. 

Changes include the promotion of James Scott to sales manager, south as well as the appointment of David Sanderson (who previously worked for sister brand NCL) as sales manager for north England, Scotland and Ireland.

Carter says Oceania has also created a key account manager role to “nurture” the line’s travel partners – “once we’re at full force, we’re going to be able to take that Oceania service to a whole new level for our trade partners”.

This new level will include “more face-to-face“ events than in 2019, such as product update events as well as agent breakfasts and lunches. Might it also include ship visits? 

“We’re still early days coming out of the pandemic but we would hope that they come back as soon as possible,” he says.

And what about a shipyard visit to the see new ship Vista? “That’s definitely on the wish list,” he grins.

ALL HANDS ON DECK

For now, the line is focused on ramping up agent awareness of its Trade Connect platform – “a single-stop shop for travel partners”, which includes Oceania’s online training modules, rewards programme and marketing tools.

“It’s been a challenging time for everybody dealing with different pressures, but the travel community has helped us get to where we are today. Now it’s our time to give back. Hopefully agents feel we’ve been supportive through the pandemic, but we intend on taking that further still, because now we can help everybody rebuild their businesses,” says Carter. 

“If agents want to sell Oceania, we’re going to give them everything they need to make it happen.”