Travel Associates has wrapped up its series of Luxury Cruise events across Australia and New Zealand, with more than 2,300 guests attending.

The program of events started in Sydney followed by Gold Coast, Auckland, Adelaide and Melbourne.

Rachel Kingswell, General Manager of Travel Associates said the style of event has proven to be a success in reaching both new and existing customers in one hit.

“Cruising is the fastest growing segment globally, where 27% of customers over the past two years have been new to cruise, so we wanted to reach these customers in an interactive way that would showcase the breadth of luxury cruising.

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“Between the immersive supplier showcases to guests being able to plan their cruise with advisors in the gated booking lounge with a canape and a glass of champagne in hand, we were really able to bring luxury cruising to life,” Kingswell said.

“We were particularly pleased to see that 74 % of those through the doors were new customers for Travel Associates as luxury cruise intenders rely on our expertise and deep industry knowledge.”

“We’ve held events before but nothing to this scale, and it’s certainly paid off in both actual return on investment and feedback we’ve received from partners and clients.

“Each advisor took away approximately 5 to 10 bookings and there was a significant number of guests going on to book their first Travel Associates holiday. We’re confident that the new clients we’ve welcomed will be clients for life.”

All guests were qualified with a ticket price, allowing advisors to connect with hot leads.

Lisa Pile, Vice President Sales & GM, Asia Pacific for Regent Seven Seas Cruises (a platinum partner fo the series), said the event was the perfect opportunity to introduce their products to new clients.

“We were delighted to partner with Travel Associates on their first luxury cruise event series – there’s no other luxury travel retailer doing anything like this.

“It gave us an invaluable opportunity to introduce Regent to guests and connect face-to-face with clients who were ready to book a cruise.”The events took place at luxury hotels in Australia; Hyatt Regency Sydney, The Star Broadbeach, EOS by SkyCity Adelaide, Ritz-Carlton Melbourne and at Viaduct Event Centre in Auckland.