Step One: Activate your individual profile at cruising.org
As a first step we encourage all agents to activate their individual profile to access the training and
resources
available at cruising.org. There is no cost to activate your individual profile - the only requirement is
that you
are working at a Travel Agency with active CLIA membership or have paid for Homeworker membership yourself.
YOU CAN ACTIVATE YOUR PROFILE HERE.
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New-to-Cruise Agent Resources
We’ve created a great selection of resources aimed specifically to assist
travel agents who may
be
new to selling cruise holidays.
The four “New-to…” Guides cover Ocean, River,
Expedition &
Yacht/Sail Cruising, with each providing an overview of key aspects of the cruise
experience,
including
dining, staterooms, shore excursions, embarkation days and onboard entertainment, as
well as
information
on the all-important embarkation ports of key cruising regions.
Our Destination Factsheet series covers key cruising regions, with
each including
the
Top 10 reasons to cruise there, the best time to visit, Top 10 key attractions -
including a labelled
map
of the region - and the key considerations when making a booking in this region.
You can find the new-to-cruise content in Agent Resources
-
Cruise Trade Publications
We work alongside many Trade publications who cover key cruise news stories, and
offer opinion
articles
and insight into developments within the industry. It is crucially important to
remain up-to-date.
Through
our Cruise
Trade
Publications page, you can sign up to Newsletters or subscribe to receive
editions of
their
publications.
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Cruise & Ship Search
As a CLIA member agent, you have access to an industry-leading Search facility to
find the right ship
and
itinerary for your customers. Offered by our partners at Widgety, the
Search can be a great
help
in finding cruise options to match the wishes of your guests.
The Search also offers extensive details on the facilities and experiences available
onboard each of
the
ships listed.
Access the Cruise & Ship Search here
-
Annual Member-only Cruise Guide
We want you to keep CLIA close at hand throughout the year and produce an annual
Member-only Cruise
Guide. This Guide will include:
- All CLIA Cruise Line & River Cruise Operator Sales team contact details
- New Ship Arrivals to look out for
- CLIA Cruise Line Directory & Fleet Lists
The digital Guide can be accessed from Agent
Resources
-
Weekly Member-only eNewsletter
Presenting top stories from the past week, we aim to become your one-stop-shop to
keep you in the
know on
our fast-moving industry. From ship launches to deployment changes, technology
innovations and
destination
news, we give you the headline and a link to read more from one of our trade media
partners. We also
have
dedicated sections on CLIA Events, CLIA online resources and occasionally features
from our Partners.
These allow you to make sure you’re making the most of your membership with us -
signing up to any new
training or networking events we have announced, and accessing the latest resources
we’ve added to
cruising.org
All members with an active profile at cruising.org are automatically enrolled to
receive the weekly
eNewsletter.
-
Podcasts
CLIA produce two monthly Podcasts, focussing separately on both ocean and river cruising
with Guest
speakers, Cruise line representatives and expert panels. Available to stream via
cruising.org or
download
from multiple mainstream channels including iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud.
Our Podcasts can be found here
BE EDUCATED
With the variety of product and destinations available to your customers, it is vital that
you make use of
the training available to you. Whether developed by CLIA, a cruise line, or by our partners,
there are many
ways in which you can utilise your CLIA membership to educate yourself about the cruise
sales process, about
cruise terminology, destinations and trends.
Here are some things you can do to be educated:
-
Work through CLIA Destination and Sales training
-
Work towards achieving a CLIA Certification
-
Register for cruise line training
-
Watch cruise video content from CLIA and our cruise lines
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Join CLIA virtual training
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Work towards #RiverCruiseExpert status with our new River Cruise Program
-
Get the best advice directly from cruise industry leaders via the CLIA Trade
Engagement Action Group
BE INSPIRED
Whilst keeping yourself informed of the latest developments, don’t forget that you are
selling a
fantastic holiday experience – cruise holidays are the best way to see the world, and
there are plenty
of ways that these holidays can be showcased to inspire you, and your customers. Through our
events and
activity across social platforms, we hope to inspire you about the incredible industry you
support.
Here are our suggestions in this area:
-
Attend CLIA events to network and experience different brands
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Attend industry events to engage with the wider cruise community
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Follow CLIA on social media
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Use Cruise Line social media
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Make contacts with the CLIA cruise lines and river cruise operators
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Get inspired by peer-written “Cruising with Confidence” blogs
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Participate in the annual Cruise Week campaign
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CLIA Events
CLIA offer a variety of in-person events across the year, designed to increase
your knowledge of the
industry and get you onboard ships to experience a taste of the cruise
industry’s hospitality.
Do make time to join a live event, a Roadshow, or one of our conferences – they
are the perfect way
to keep up to date, to network, make new connections and to learn!
For our up-coming events, click here
We returned to Southampton back in November 2021 for our Selling Cruise Day, and
you can find a
3-minute
photo montage from this event on our “Webinars
OnDemand” page, giving
you an insight into the cruise community your membership and engagement offers.
If you’ve been
tempted to join us, visit our Events
& Ship Visits page
for the latest opportunities to join us, both online and in-person.
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Industry Events
Across the year, there will be opportunities to join events organised
independently of CLIA, such as
training roadshows, ship visit days and FAM trips or Conferences. Many of these
are open and available
to
CLIA member travel agents and we will always share details through our weekly
newsletters and online.
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CLIA Social Media
CLIA are active across a number of social media channels, principally Twitter and
Facebook. Agent
members
also have a dedicated Facebook Group “CLIA UK & Ireland Travel Agents” to communicate with
peers and
access news and offers from our cruise lines who post directly to this group.
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Cruise Line Social Media
The best way to keep updated on the news and developments of our cruise lines and
river cruise
operators
is to follow them on social media. Many of them have dedicated Trade accounts
which offer insider
hints
and tips. CLIA are working to collate links to the social media accounts of our
cruise lines and river
cruise operators so you have a one-stop-shop listing.
-
Cruise Line Contacts
We’ve collated a listing of all key Trade Sales and Business Development
contacts you need to grow
your business. These can be found on our Cruise Line
Travel
Contacts page. You’ll likely know a few already, but we would
encourage you to identify
contacts of cruise lines you have never sold but would fit your customers’
wishes.
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Cruising with Confidence
As the worldwide cruise fleet welcomes guests once again, the opportunity has
never been more exciting,
with brand new ships, itineraries and experiences that will appeal to regular
cruisers and those who have
never cruised before. We’ve created a new “Cruising with
Confidence” page to
showcase the great experiences you’re having onboard as we get back to
cruising!
If you have cruised onboard a CLIA cruise line or river cruise operator in the
past year, and have a
positive story to tell, we’d love to hear from you - we want to spread the
word that the cruise
experiences we all know and love are back, better and bigger than ever!
Details of how to contribute can be found on the page, but don’t worry if
you’re completely
new to cruising – we’ve got some starter articles on there to read,
and will add new
submissions as we receive them.
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Cruise Week
CLIA member agents have access to a range of trade-specific cruise activity and
resources across the
annual Cruise Week. We publish original content and a wealth of cruise
inspiration
across our social media platforms during the week, and
cruise lines, river cruise
operators and members of the CLIA team take the campaign on the road across
the month, visiting trade
partners to help amplify the cruise message.