A travel agent attending the Advantage Latitude cruise conference onboard Ambassador’s Ambience in Amsterdam was so inspired by one of the sessions that she immediately called a client to encourage them to book a cruise they’d been discussing for several weeks.
Emma Gibson of Travel Den said she left a talk on expedition cruises, delivered by Silversea UK & Ireland MD Peter Shanks, thinking that if she could persuade this client to book the Celebrity cruise they’d been discussing, he’d go on to book an expedition cruise next.
Peter had told delegates that if they sold expedition cruises, they’d transform their business. He also advised them to target clients who typically book luxury cruises or land-based holidays.
“I had this new client who’d been talking about a cruise holiday to Vietnam, I’d not heard from him for a few days, then I got all inspired when I heard Peter’s speech, so I emailed him to see if he was ready to book.
“I thought, if I can just get him to book this, he’ll book an expedition cruise next, he’s got the money to do it, they love to cruise, he’s the right market, so I gave him a call to ask if he was ready to commit,” said Emma. “He didn’t like the flights, so, we changed those and messaged backwards and forwards during the morning.”
After they’d exchanged a few messages, the client sent Emma a Whatsapp confirming the booking, which pinged onto her mobile as she was taking a tour of Amsterdam’s Art Museum.
“It was a great £16,500 booking, starting with a cruise on Celebrity Solstice around Vietnam in January 2025,” said Emma. She booked it with First Class Holidays, who were able to combine the cruise with two weeks in Vietnam, where the client and his wife plan to play golf.
“I could have waited to call him till I got back from the conference, but I felt so inspired I messaged him straight away. Coming to these events really makes you see the opportunities you’ve got if you’re prepared to invest the time in learning.
“After listening to Peter, I’m definitely going to invest in the time to learn. It was a key point when Peter said expedition cruises aren’t just for people who cruise, they’re bucket list holidays.”
Emma, who started as a ‘Saturday girl’ in a travel agency 30 years ago but left after five years to work in other businesses, came back into the industry two years ago after posting a message in Travel Gossip’s Facebook group, asking for advice on which homeworking group she should join.
“I’d just started cruising, I loved it, then I met an InteleTravel agent on a cruise and she was living the dream, or portrayed that she was living the dream, and I thought I quite fancy this.I came back, found Travel Gossip, and posted that I was thinking of joining a homeworking agency and Sam [Ballard, founder of luxury travel agency Club Voyages] messaged me.”
Initially she joined Club Voyages before transferring to Advantage member Travel Den. “Everything is just going amazingly,” she added.
The post Agent inspired by Advantage Latitude conference takes £16k+ luxury cruise booking, before she even gets home appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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Emma Gibson of Travel Den said she left a talk on expedition cruises, delivered by Silversea UK & Ireland MD Peter Shanks, thinking that if she could persuade this client to book the Celebrity cruise they’d been discussing, he’d go on to book an expedition cruise next.
Peter had told delegates that if they sold expedition cruises, they’d transform their business. He also advised them to target clients who typically book luxury cruises or land-based holidays.
“I had this new client who’d been talking about a cruise holiday to Vietnam, I’d not heard from him for a few days, then I got all inspired when I heard Peter’s speech, so I emailed him to see if he was ready to book.
“I thought, if I can just get him to book this, he’ll book an expedition cruise next, he’s got the money to do it, they love to cruise, he’s the right market, so I gave him a call to ask if he was ready to commit,” said Emma. “He didn’t like the flights, so, we changed those and messaged backwards and forwards during the morning.”
After they’d exchanged a few messages, the client sent Emma a Whatsapp confirming the booking, which pinged onto her mobile as she was taking a tour of Amsterdam’s Art Museum.
“It was a great £16,500 booking, starting with a cruise on Celebrity Solstice around Vietnam in January 2025,” said Emma. She booked it with First Class Holidays, who were able to combine the cruise with two weeks in Vietnam, where the client and his wife plan to play golf.
“I could have waited to call him till I got back from the conference, but I felt so inspired I messaged him straight away. Coming to these events really makes you see the opportunities you’ve got if you’re prepared to invest the time in learning.
“After listening to Peter, I’m definitely going to invest in the time to learn. It was a key point when Peter said expedition cruises aren’t just for people who cruise, they’re bucket list holidays.”
Emma, who started as a ‘Saturday girl’ in a travel agency 30 years ago but left after five years to work in other businesses, came back into the industry two years ago after posting a message in Travel Gossip’s Facebook group, asking for advice on which homeworking group she should join.
“I’d just started cruising, I loved it, then I met an InteleTravel agent on a cruise and she was living the dream, or portrayed that she was living the dream, and I thought I quite fancy this.I came back, found Travel Gossip, and posted that I was thinking of joining a homeworking agency and Sam [Ballard, founder of luxury travel agency Club Voyages] messaged me.”
Initially she joined Club Voyages before transferring to Advantage member Travel Den. “Everything is just going amazingly,” she added.
The post Agent inspired by Advantage Latitude conference takes £16k+ luxury cruise booking, before she even gets home appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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