In anticipation of the resumption of cruising in a complex operating environment, P&O Cruises has made changes to its sales structure to ensure it can continue to offer a premium level of support to its travel agent partners.
The traditional sales structure of business development managers servicing large clusters of travel agents in defined geographic areas is being replaced with a structure where agents can go to the heart of the organisation to have their business needs met.
“We know that we will be functioning as a business in a commercial landscape vastly different from what existed in our pre-COVID-19 world,” said Ryan Taibel, Vice President Sales and Marketing.
“In the post-COVID-19 world, we can expect a different sales environment but travel agents and their partnership will remain of vital importance to what we do, and we need to be in the best possible position to support them.”
In the new operating environment, P&O Cruises is investing in its core sales support operation, which will evolve and be renamed Flagship Concierge. Travel agents will be able to go directly to the heart of the business to have their sales support needs met. Existing commission arrangements will be unaffected.
The Flagship Concierge team, based in the Chatswood head office, will also enable P&O to better support national travel agency groups as the world returns to the new normal post-COVID-19. Applicable travel agencies will be assigned to dedicated Account Managers based in both Australia and New Zealand.
P&O also plans to ramp up its P&O Flagship Achievers program that was launched three years ago giving front-line consultants the ability to earn valuable cash rewards to recognise their achievements in selling P&O Cruises. Rewards offered under this program in 2021 and beyond will be at least double existing levels.
“It is clear from this that our commitment to our travel agent partners will remain as strong as ever,” Mr Taibel said.
Under the new Flagship Concierge, P&O Cruises will transition from its traditional field-based sales structure to a more centralised approach that offers travel agent partners a one-stop shop for all business development and sales support requirements.
“We have always benefited from having a dedicated and passionate team which has been critical to the growth of cruising in Australia and New Zealand and to making the P&O business in particular an industry leader,” Mr Taibel said.
“We’d like to thank our team for the huge contribution they have made as we look forward to working alongside our travel agent partners within the new operating environment.”
