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Flybe to sell cruises online
Flybe is to use its strength at Southampton as a trigger for selling cruises online.
The airline has forged a partnership with cruise retailer Voyana to create a dedicated website http://www.flybecruise.com/.
The site goes live on January 22 in a two-year deal with Voyana for an unspecified six-figure sum.
Cruise lines to be featured include P&O Cruises, Cunard and Royal Caribbean, which all sail from Southampton.
The airline claims to be the first in the UK to offer this type of holiday platform, enabling travellers flying into Southampton from any of its 33 bases to depart direct for cruises to Western Europe, Canary Islands, The Caribbean, Baltic and Norwegian Fjords transatlantic.
Marketing director Simon Lilley said: “The cruise market is discreet and therefore with our dominance into Southampton tapping into this growing customer base will provide an added dimension.
“This is not a move back to package holidays, this is synergy of two dominant travel industries in one region. Forty per cent of cruise passengers out of Southampton live in a Flybe catchment area across the UK and therefore Flybe offer the ideal vehicle to commence their journey.”
Voyanan managing director Mark Van Straten claimed partnership was “one of the most significant developments for the cruise industry in recent years”.
He said: “It is a fantastic opportunity to partner with a major airline to find a new and relatively untapped cruise market through significant online distribution.
“This is the first time we’ve sold cruises online through a travel partner. We anticipate this introducing us to a more widespread and mainstream audience which is critical as our business evolves.”
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