Designer Travel launches cruise education programme

Designer Travel plans to double its cruise sales over the next year by introducing a cruise education programme.

The Cruise Designers programme has been in the works for six months and will be launched last week.

70 of Designer Travel's 105 homeworkers have signed up for the programme, which is more than Matthews prediction of 30 to 40.

Homeworkers can earn points through Cruise Designers if they attend weekly training webinars, complete training modules or organize consumer events.

Points can be used for places on fam trips, cruise ship visits, and Clia events.

Matthews hopes the programme will help her homeworkers sell more cruise products.

She said that it was a great sales opportunity. Cruise customers are very loyal and repeat business is high.

We will get bookings and more confidence once we are more familiar with cruise.

She said that they offer amazing service and sell luxury holidays, but they also do cruises.

We wait to see what comes in, rather than being proactive.

Homeworkers have been given the chance to build their cruise knowledge alongside their day-to-day sales roles, which could double the business's cruise sales.

She says her team has made 12 bookings in four days.

She explained that before they did two cruise bookings, they wouldn't have.

She said that new homeworkers could join the programme later in the year. Everything is done in your own time.

Once homeworkers finish the Cruise Designers programme, designer travel will focus on a different sector.

Matthews said that the firm will focus on touring and small groups as part of a similar education programme.