"I believe the trade, and our travel agent partners, are going to play an even more important part now going forward than they have in the past," Hullah said.

"We really recognise the value in that," he added. "Another thing we did during the pandemic was we kept our trade liaison team in place, and we see that as a very important part of our business."

Hullah’s comments came after Riviera announced plans for new flexible cruise itineraries to be introduced next Spring.

He also reported increased confidence among Riviera’s customers, following the easing of travel restrictions and the recent confirmation of the date in which day two PCR tests will be replaced by lateral flow tests.

"Clearly, some uncertainty still remains," Hullah continued. "But I’m actually really positive about the outlook and really excited.

"Rules are gradually relaxing and getting simpler, confidence is really building, for example even today the small change on the dates for the return tests, it all really helps."

According to Hullah, Riviera intends to run its full programme of sailings by April 2022 and will increase its marketing output in the new year.

"We have a very good foundation already for 2022, and if you compare back to the last normal year, 2019, load factors for our tours and cruises are about 50% ahead as to where we would expect them to normally be, which is fantastic," he added.