In an industry first, Australia’s leading small ship cruise company, Cruise Traveller, has launched a new custom web solution –
The Small Ship Collective – designed to help any travel agent grow their cruise business and make them a small ship cruise specialist.
Launched with the motto ‘Where small ships mean big business’, the low-cost marketing and technology platform is the biggest initiative in Cruise Traveller’s 18-year history, a first for the small ship cruise sector in Australia and is timed to help agents benefit from rising, post-Covid interest in smaller vessels carrying less than 500 passengers.
“Small ships definitely offer agents new and bigger revenue sources,” said Cruise Traveller Managing Director, Craig Bowen. “It’s lucrative, low volume, high-yield business that any agent can now tap into via The Small Ship Collective, which offers agents a complete suite of tools to quickly make them a professional in the small ship market,” Mr Bowen said. “Importantly, The Small Ship Collective is not designed as a direct booking engine but as a springboard to get potential clients off the internet and onto the phone with an agent, building personal customer loyalty at a time when agents need it most.”
The Small Ship Collective offers agents a personalised website and branded with their own logo. The cruise content platform can be tailored by the agent to feature the cruise lines and destinations they choose and can also include auto price feeds direct from large ship cruise lines, creating a complete cruise solution for independent agents. Including extensive support and training from Cruise Traveller, The Small Ship Collective offers a complete toolkit for agents to sell small ships to their clients, including back-end banners for marketing.
Along with small and expedition-style cruises, a Small Ship Collective personalised site also gives agents the ability to include large ships from mainstream and boutique cruise lines in their product range. This gives cruise specialist agents a truly comprehensive portfolio of itineraries to their guests.
Agents in the Small Ship Collective group will also enjoy preferred commissions on Cruise Traveller-provided products, specialist training for their teams, famil opportunities, preferred cancellation and amendment conditions and a priority, toll- free reservations number to Cruise Traveller.
“The Small Ship Collective is total, hassle-free, cost-effective package offering agents an instant key to the growing appeal of boutique, expedition and river ships which will play a vital role in rebuilding trust in cruising,” Mr Bowen said. “When broader travel returns, more people will seek the space, freedom, simplicity, intimacy, eco-sustainability and personal service that smaller ships offer as well as the advantage of accessing smaller, more remote ports and sailing closer to scenery and wildlife.
“Cruise Traveller also believes that the most successful travel agents are those who enjoy a close rapport with their clients so our aim with The Small Ship Collective was to inspire inquiries but then push them off the internet onto the phones direct with the agent so that the agent becomes the trusted expert. Agencies can also build a valuable data base of cruise lovers from this new platform which can lead to strong repeat and referral business.
“The Small Ship Collective is a milestone evolution in our 18-year journey at Cruise Traveller – an affordable service I’ve long wanted to offer the industry and I feel now is the perfect time to launch it so that we can all grow the incredible potential of small ship cruising together.”
The Small Ship Collective is offered with a one-off administration cost of $250 plus GST and low monthly fees of $180 plus GST and there is a rebate structure on offer to potentially reduce these fees to zero based on easily achievable targets. There are also no hidden costs.
For more, visit www.thesmallshipcollective.
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