Nick Hughes: 'Supporting agents isn't just about boots on the ground'
For the past six months, Nick Hughes has been trying to understand what he needs to do to take Scenic Group’s UK team “to the next level”.
Today, UK sales account for around 20% of the group’s overall business, but Hughes hopes to increase that figure. “We’re in a position to grow our share,” he tells TTG in his first trade press interview as Scenic Group’s sales, strategy and partnerships director.
After eight years with Attraction World, followed by five with dnata’s UK tour operator brands, Hughes turned his hand to cruise in October 2022 when he joined Princess Cruises before taking up his role with Scenic in January.
“The past six months have enabled me to look at the structure, the teams and go on ship visits,” he says.
Hughes has since promoted national key accounts manager Jonathan Davies to head of sales and increased his sales team’s use of two platforms – Salesforce and Microsoft PowerBI.
“I want to get the structure right,” reasons Hughes. “From a strategic point of view, I am working on providing the sales team with new tools. The question is, are we supporting key agents in the right way?
"It’s not just about boots on the ground – it’s about the support. There’s a raft of tools I’m looking to bring in which will allow us to get into the nitty-gritty of things.”
’Our yacht product really stands out’
In April, Emerald Cruises, one of the two brands within the Scenic Group, announced plans to launch a third yacht. In total, there are five superyachts across Emerald and Scenic.
Tellingly, the 128-passenger Emerald Kaia, which went on sale in April, offers 28% more capacity than its sister vessels – Emerald Azzurra and Emerald Sakara. Ponant is another brand to have launched similar vessels to meet growing demand for small-ship sailings.
Hughes reveals the company’s best-performing products are its yachts. So will the fleet keep expanding? “I don’t think the business will stop with either Emerald or Scenic,” he says. “Our yacht product is performing well. It really stands out.”
Hughes says the company is “really encouraged” by Kaia’s sales. “We’re where we need to be. A lot of our yacht capacity is sold,” he adds.
’We’ve been a little quicker to market’
This winter, Azzurra will operate alongside Sakara in the Caribbean after security concerns around the former’s original deployment in Seychelles forced the line to rethink its plans. Emerald said it was postponing Azzurra’s 2024/25 Seychelles season “to prioritise guest safety in light of the ongoing situation in the Red Sea”.
Hughes is unperturbed. “We’ve got both Emerald yachts in the Caribbean. That level of experience is incredible value. We would give a hotel resort in the Caribbean a good run for their money.”
Hughes admits the markets in which the group’s brands operate are “competitive”, but reveals river cruise bookings via agents are “well ahead” of 2023 and 2019 levels. “I’m really pleased with the growth,” he continues. “We’re delivering more passengers from the UK for both brands than ever before.”
How has he and the team managed this? “I’ve got a settled team who are well respected and we’ve been a little quicker to market. I’m trying to improve the processes.”
Little changes to internal processes could mean big steps forward for Scenic’s UK business under Hughes’ watch.
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