Travel Agent Events: Ship Visits, Training and Cruise Nights
Where most cruise sellers really learn their product, and how to host your own event.
Get Free Cruise QuotesTravel Agent Events Beyond the Big Shows
Trade shows are only a few days a year. Most of a cruise seller’s learning happens at smaller travel agent events: ship visits, supplier training, local roadshows and the evenings agencies host for their own clients. Here is what each one is for.
Ship Visits and Inspections
Cruise lines regularly invite travel advisors aboard while a ship is in port, typically for a tour of cabins and public areas and a meal. There is no better way to answer a client’s “what is the cabin really like?” Ask the cruise line’s sales representatives or your host agency how to be invited, and bring a camera and a notebook. Afterwards, write up what you saw while it is fresh; it becomes content for your clients.
Supplier Training and Lunch-and-Learns
Cruise lines, river companies and tourism boards run online courses, webinars and in-person sessions for agents. Many count toward specialist designations. A lunch-and-learn at your office or a local restaurant is a relaxed way to meet a sales manager and ask the questions your clients ask you. Prepare by listing the three questions clients asked you most often last month, and leave with answers you can reuse in your next quote or newsletter.
Hosting a Cruise Night for Your Clients
A cruise night is an evening event an agency hosts for past and potential clients, often with a cruise line representative. Done well, it is the friendliest kind of travel expo: a small room of people who already trust you.
- Choose one theme: a line, a region or a new ship.
- Invite past clients and ask each to bring a friend.
- Keep the talk short and visual, then open questions.
- Offer a clear next step: a consultation or a quote request.
- Follow up with everyone within a few days.
Learning at Sea
Some training happens on board. Seminar and conference cruises combine sessions with sailing, and agents who host groups often learn the most on their own sailings. Our sister sites Seminars on Cruises and Cruise With a Host explain how those work, and Group Cruise Planner covers planning a group from the traveler’s side.
Online Events Count Too
Not every event needs a plane ticket. Supplier webinars, virtual product launches and online destination courses let you learn a new ship or port from your desk, and many lines record their sessions so you can watch them between client calls. Treat them like an in-person event: block the time, take notes and send the presenter a thank-you with one good question. Sales managers remember the agents who engage.
Keeping Track
Keep a simple log of every event: who you met, what you learned and what you promised. It turns a busy year of travel agent events into a record you can use when choosing next year’s, and it gives you something concrete to say when a supplier asks how you plan to sell their product.
Your Cruise Night Guests Want Quotes?
Our cruise advisors at Mister Cruise can prepare free, personal quotes for travelers who attended your event.
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