Crystal sales boss hails brand’s ‘solid foundation’ as it prepares for growth

Crystal’s vice-president of trade sales believes the brand’s “solid foundation” will help it offer the trade “what they need” as it prepares for its next period of growth.

 

Luke Smith, who marks one year in his role today (June 2), told Aspire the line has made “a lot of strides to become more trade friendly” and outlined plans to continue boosting agent engagement.

 

He said: “There’s so much that we’ve done in terms of what we’re trying to achieve with the trade.

 

“We’re working more robustly across marketing plans, we’re able to offer and accommodate exclusive rates and tailored commercial deals, and we’re starting to work more closely with all of our tour operator partners.”

 

Smith added the onboarding process for new agents is now more “streamlined”, meaning the line is “open to working with all travel partners”.

 

In his role, Smith has also overseen the launch of the brand’s trade engagement programme, Crystal Trade Society, which had its first meeting last month.

 

He said: “[The society] is now starting to really take shape and happen in a meaningful way. That group of agents will really give us a steer of what it means in reality when I say I want to be the most trade-friendly [cruise line].”

 

Smith hailed the role Crystal’s trade team has played in making his first year with the company a successful one.

 

Following a “substantial restructure” that saw the addition of Michael Young-Richards from Celebrity Cruises and Holly Glazer from Audley Travel, Smith believes Crystal now has a team that is “wired in a way to constantly be asking, ‘is this going to make the trade’s life easier?’”.

 

Looking ahead, Smith said improving “brand awareness and education” will be a priority for the next 12 months.

 

To do this, Crystal has launched a new webinar series to highlight the brand’s USPs and a 60-page selling guide available on its travel agent portal.

 

The line has also partnered with technology platform Approach Guides to allow UK agents to white-label Crystal content to share with clients.

 

To further reward agent partners, Smith revealed the brand will launch its first-ever awards ceremony later this year.

 

He said: “We’re going to introduce a new awards event to recognise all our top [partners]. Not just top revenue drivers, but also [categories such as] best new agent, best individual agent within an agency and best social presence.”

 

The line will also send out an agent feedback survey later this month to get “actionable feedback” on the trade’s understanding of the brand and where it can improve.

 

These plans, which Smith hopes will help Crystal become “the most trade-friendly ultra-luxury cruise line”, come as it gears up to enter its next growth phase.

 

The line’s newest vessel, Crystal Grace, will launch in 2028, marking its first newbuild ship in 25 years. Bookings for its maiden season opened last month, which has been “very successful and exciting”, according to Smith.

 

Two further ships will join the fleet in 2031 and 2032 respectively.

 

Smith said: “My team are very excited to oversee that next period of growth.

 

“It’s not going to be easy, as there’s incredible competition out there. But we firmly believe we’ve got a special product, and we believe we can have the best attitude and the most can-do attitude when it comes to the trade.”