In his first trade interview, Joseph Grimley told TTG he was “assessing all aspects” of the brands’ agent strategy after joining as director of trade sales in October.

Grimley, who previously spent more than six years in the same role at Riviera Travel, said part of his plan to grow agent sales was to “get as many agents as possible” onboard both companies’ ships. This would involve changing the lines’ week-long fams to three-night sailings.

“When you run a week-long trip, it does get tricky for agents to have all that time away. If we only do three nights then we can make it more manageable and run more than we do now,” he said.

Scenic and Emerald are set to hold four fams this summer, hosted by each of its on-the-road sales team – Danny Joel, Wendi Hardy, William Young and Nicky Yates – between May and June.

Grimley said he also wanted to introduce day trips, looking to run a trial in June, describing how the events would likely be in Amsterdam during a ship turnaround day, offering a taste of dining, onboard service and an onshore activity.

“From my past experiences it’s about optimising our relationship with agents to deliver the best impact. There are definitely agents who are strongly river cruise-focused who we want to work closer with,” he added.

Scenic and Emerald launched a new e-learning programme, Agent Academy, this week, offering a “one-stop shop” of online training courses, with current modules including an introduction to Scenic and Emerald Waterways, as well as European river cruising with both brands.

To celebrate the launch, every agent who completes the four available modules by Monday March 4, 2019 will be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win £500 worth of luxury gifts.

Grimley said further modules would include training on Scenic’s upcoming expedition yacht, Scenic Eclipse, river cruising in south-east Asia and Scenic’s escorted touring.