Silversea expands UK trade sales team

Silversea Cruises has expanded its UK-based sales team with two business development managers (BDMs), as it looks to widen its trade distribution.

Business development executive Lucy Howe has been promoted to BDM after returning from maternity leave and the second BDM will join next month, the line’s UK and Ireland managing director Peter Shanks said.

Outlining how the luxury and expedition cruise operator has been ramping up trade activity, Shanks told a Travel Weekly webcast: “We already have great coverage with our regional sales managers, but we now have two additional business managers whose sole focus is to go out and find, nurture and develop new agents into selling ultra-luxury cruise.”

The line offered good commercial terms, marketing support and webinars, added Shanks, who said he had volunteered to lead trade-facing training sessions online.

He pledged to get new agents on Silversea ships next year once they had been identified as part of an ongoing “military-style” operation.

“We want to go out and identify new agents, nurture them, onboard them, look after them, help them to grow our mutual ultra-luxury cruising and expedition businesses,” he said. “So that’s our ambition all the way through 2023.

“We love the partners we work with today but we’d love to work with them more. We’re lucky enough to work in a really special sector and we have some fantastic competitors.”

Silversea, he said, aims to be the “standout market leader” in the expedition and luxury sectors. “We’d love more agents to come and work with us,” he added.

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