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Silversea targets UK growth
Silversea Cruises is seeking growth of 10% to 15% in the UK market once it has re-opened its London office, senior vice president Steve Odell for the region said this week.
The luxury cruise operator announced earlier this month that all sales for the UK, European and Middle East markets would be handled in London from January next year. The company previously closed its UK sales office in 2003, when it shifted its reservations to Florida.
Odell said he hoped the new office would help staff outperform the general cruise market which grew by 6% in the UK in 2010.
Speaking exclusively to TravelMole at the Advantage Cruise Champions Conference in London on Tuesday, he said: “The process we had was good and effective but as our international business mix has grown, there's more and more of a need to service things locally.
“The intention is to provide a better service to the agent and create more connections. We'll have longer opening hours and Saturday openings.
“We are investing heavily in the UK market; the new office and people are the first step and we will support that with more marketing and sales activity as well.
“I'd like to see us grow in the 10% to 15% bracket.”
Odell added 95% of Silversea's UK business is generated by agents and any additional marketing activity is not intended to upset that balance.
“Direct selling is not what it's about, direct marketing is what it's about,” he said. “We prefer consumers come through travel agents as it is a complicated sell and the travel agent can handle it in a good way.”
Odell said he hoped any sales growth would be driven by increased prices with more sales of long haul, expedition and combination packages as opposed to increasing passenger numbers.
Also speaking at the cruise conference was Hurtigruten managing director Kathryn Beadle who highlighted the need to for agents to focus on niches markets such as luxury and adventure.
She said the niche cruise market in the UK had outperformed the general cruise having registered an 8% growth in 2010, adding: “There is a cruise out there for everyone.”
By Ed Robertson
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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