Seabourn hails trade partnerships as 2024 set to hit company record for bookings
Ultra-luxury cruise operator Seabourn has reaffirmed the importance of the trade to its business, as it looks ahead to a record 2024 while celebrating 35 years in operation.
Speaking at its business update in London last week, Seabourn VP of UK, Europe and MEA Lynn Narraway outlined the importance of Seabourn’s travel agent partners – revealing that nearly 90% of sales come from the trade.
“Our agent partners are more important than ever before,” Narraway insisted, who pointed to technological innovations - including the introduction of SpaceX’s high-speed internet connection Starlink on both its expedition ships, with further rollouts planned, and movements in the luxury expedition space that the company has experienced in its 35 years in business.
But “what hasn’t changed is our travel agent community and just how important it is – you are all our travel partners. I believe we’ve become closer over the last four years,” she stressed.
President Natalya Leahy, who took up her role in March 2023, echoed the sentiment at the event.
“Our travel advisors and partners are an extension of our leadership team. You know the guests the best, you give us the best insight about the product, about commercial terms and about how we design our business strategies.”
She confirmed that Seabourn’s 2024 bookings for the UK and globally are “at a record stage”, and that the UK is the operator’s second largest market. “You are building the business that brings the most loyal guests to us,” she said, adding that in some destinations, such as the Caribbean, the UK market is number one – accounting for 55% of Seabourn’s business.
The business update zeroed in on Seabourn’s expedition offering – which was launched in 2022 with the first of two new expedition ships, Seabourn Venture, followed by Seabourn Pursuit in August 2023.
Leahy said: “We had a dream which started seven years ago, to bring the world of signature Seabourn luxury into the world of expedition, so we can give all the travellers that appreciate Seabourn elegance and service to visit the places in the world that only few ever go, in a way that only Seabourn can deliver.”
She added that the addition of the expedition ships has “created a gateway to bring new people into cruising” adding that around 50% of the guests this year on Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit were new to brand.
Alongside an extensive expedition programme for 2025/26, attendees at the update also heard more about the planned 2026 “Ring of Fire: Hidden Gems” world cruise aboard Seabourn Sojourn – where guests will be taken into hidden parts of the world courtesy of a smaller ship.
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