BTA sponsor profile: Silversea

Established in 1994 Silversea Cruises owns and operates nine luxury cruise ships accommodating from 100 to 596 guests, with a global portfolio of itineraries to all seven continents and over 900 destinations worldwide. This will be the second year Silversea has sponsored the British Travel Awards and TravelMole spoke to the company’s UK & Ireland managing director Lisa McAuley.

How did you become aware of the opportunity to sponsor the BTAs? Before Silversea I was with Avis and the company was a long time BTA sponsor so I was well aware of the awards and the opportunities surrounding them.

What do you hope to get out of the sponsorship? As much as we’d all love to win the award, I’m keen to increase brand awareness in a crowded market place, especially for a niche brand like Silversea.

Are you happy with the level of brand awareness received? I believe more than 1.25 million consumer votes were made last year via the BTA website where Silversea is featured on the home page, so who wouldn’t be happy with that level of brand awareness? It’s not just about absolute numbers, however, the level of consumer engagement counts for much more, again, particularly for a niche product such as ours.

Have you given a prize for the prize draw? Yes – voters can win a fantastic Fortnum and Mason hamper courtesy of Silversea. Every voter is entered into the prize draw and we know voters are incentivised to vote by viewing the prizes up for grabs.

Do you think the association with the BTA’s has heightened the company’s profile in the industry / with consumers? Given the number of votes cast and the coverage the BTA’s receive across many media then we have to assume that more consumers are seeing the Silversea brand.

Have you taken advantage of brand awareness opportunities such as logo on BTA website? News through their newsletter Connect? Yes it’s important if you invest in this type of initiative that you maximise your profile at all available opportunities and the BTAs provide us with all the tools.

Tell us about the actual Awards night – what do you like about it? It’s a great event to mix and mingle with the creme de la creme of our fantastic industry, rewarding many top performers and hearing about latest innovations. The timing at the end of November is perfect as everyone needs a chance to relax after the previous three months, which historically are very busy in the travel industry.

You receive a table at the Awards as part of the sponsorship package who do you invite as your guests? We use the event as an opportunity to invite our travel agent partners, as well as team members

Are you pleased with the return-on-investment (ROI) the sponsorship has brought – would you say it’s good value for money? Yes I’m pleased with ROI, as mentioned previously it’s imperative that if you invest then you must take the opportunities that are presented.