Clia announces ‘biggest-ever’ trade engagement programme

Clia has announced its “biggest-ever” trade engagement campaign for the next 12 months, including the location of next year’s RiverView conference.

Regional ship visits for agents across the UK and Ireland have been arranged in partnership with several cruise lines.

Agents can attend visits – which all take place in August and include updates from industry leaders, a tour and complimentary lunch – on Seabourn Quest, Norwegian Dawn, Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam, Crystal Serenity and Oceania Cruises’ Vista.

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A residential trip to Porto will be held in autumn in partnership with Visit Port & the North. All delegates will be hosted on Norwegian Prima as part of the event, with additional ship visit options on Seabourn Ovation and some river cruise vessels, as well as a series of sessions with destination experts and the opportunity to join local tours and excursions.

The association will also host specialist cruise webinars covering Europe and worldwide river cruise, as well as the ultra-luxury, expedition, yacht and sail sectors. They will take place in June, September and October.

This year’s Clia Cruise Week will take place from September 18-24, the river cruise residential is scheduled for September 28-29, and next year’s RiverView conference will take place in Amsterdam, with dates yet to be confirmed.

The campaign details were shared by Clia managing director UK & Ireland Andy Harmer at the association’s annual conference in Southampton, which had the theme cruise heroes.

“This was our largest ever Clia conference and I’m thrilled to say it proved a huge success with great initial feedback from agents and the wider industry,” he said.

“The trade are all cruise heroes and with so many new delegates joining us it’s clear more agents than ever before can see the opportunities and advantages of cruise.

“We’re so excited to announce our superhero-charged programme of events, with the widest ever choice of ship visit openings, domestic and overseas events, and virtual training opportunities.

“This approach recognises people like to learn, engage and network in different ways.

“It also recognises agents have a range of requirements, from focusing on certain sectors such as expedition and river cruise, to those who want to explore ships, to those who want to be inspired by experts, to those who have just started their cruise selling journey.

“We are encouraging all agents to take advantage of this wealth of opportunities as cruise continues to go from strength to strength.”