ITTN’s Shane Cullen was the only Irish media representative at the prestigious Travel Agent Appreciation Awards. Giles Hawke, Claire Stirrup and the Celebrity Cruises UK & Ireland PR team invited Irish agencies and ITTN to attend the annual event. This year was cause for extra celebration as it was the tenth anniversary of the event.
The travel trade guests from Ireland included Mary Denton (Sunway), Paul Hackett (Click&Go), Sharon Harney (Cassidy Travel), David O’Grady (e-Travel), Carol Anne O’Neill (Worldchoice), and Tom Britton (Marble City Travel).
Travel Agent Appreciation Awards
This exclusive event celebrates the continuous hard work and support of Celebrity Cruises’ trade partners.
Giles Hawke opened the event by thanking the guests and his team, “This team do an incredible job. We had a record year last year and it’s down to the work of all the people from Celebrity Cruise in this room, working with all of you on a day-to-day basis, to make it all work.”
Laura Hodges Bethge – President of Celebrity Cruises
Hello travel partners. It’s Laura Hodges, Bethany here, President of Celebrity Cruises. I am so sorry I couldn’t be there with you today to celebrate these amazing accomplishments that you have had in 2024. It was an amazing year collectively together. We kicked off our new brand campaign, “Nothing Comes Close”. We had our first full year of the gorgeous Celebrity Ascent, delivering amazing vacations to our mutual guests and then the gorgeous Celebrity Apex sailing out of Southampton with amazing support from all of you.
It would not have been the best year in our company’s history without your support. So, thank you so much for all you’ve done. As we enter 2025, we’re excited to welcome Celebrity XL, and we have so many surprises that are coming… thank you so much for all you did in 2024 and thank you for your friendship and also your partnership.”
She hinted at the “poolest day ever” that Celebrity Cruises is launching in the Caribbean that guests will get really excited about again so stay tuned for all the news.
2024 – A Look at Celebrity Cruises’ Performance
2024 saw the best year ever in the company’s history with 70 cruises globally. In Giles’ words, “We absolutely smashed it”.
Furthermore, the UK, Ireland and EMEA delivered a really strong performance which Giles accredited to the hard work of his team.
EMEA played a significant role in the global business, maintaining its share of the global business and delivering high-value passengers.
Giles mentioned that a market trend is agencies creating tailored packages for the Asian market and shared Celebrity’s interest in working with agencies to continue to grow the Asia market.
“Nothing Comes Close”
Positioning in 2024 meant new branding and Celebrity introduced “Nothing Comes Close”. Giles explains “that [it] has played out really well with customers. All the surveys we’ve done of our customers, say that “Nothing Comes Close” really resonates with them”. This ties in with Celebrity’s goal to be the best premium holiday, to surpass the basic expectations, how can Celebrity “add a plus one experience to everything”.
From a company perspective, their strategy is to increase awareness in the marketplace in terms of innovative marketing activity to get in front of the customers at the time that they are doing that research and thinking about the type of holiday that they want to book and to encourage people to think about cruise as a holiday, to drive customers to agencies to book cruises.
2025 – Bigger & Better Year Ahead
The brand positioning for the future is about delivering elevated service and hospitality – a sense of being really welcomed and wanted.
Celebrity Cruises is ensuring the food and beverage offering is of the highest quality it can possibly be and is really focused on delivering exceptional dining experiences, live shows and activities. In the Caribbean, the company is rolling out pool deck party across all of the ships and the older ships are all having a massive investment in 2025.
2025 Sees Six Celebrity Cruise Ships in Europe
2025 sees six Celebrity cruise ships in Europe with Celebrity Apex back in Southampton. Celebrity Ascent, the newest ship in the fleet, will sail the Mediterranean in summer 2025. Four sailings will visit Iceland and new itineraries will take in the Arctic Circle in Norway. 2026 will also have more sailings with Canary Island itineraries from Barcelona.
Caribbean – Coolest or rather Poolest Day Ever
Caribbean cruises will offer pop-up entertainment, games and challenges for people to take part-in around the pool – that a day poolside will be the most amazing day in itself.
Incentives with 2026 and 2027 Sailings on Sale
2026 and 2027 are already on sale. There will be three Edge Class ships in 2026 with Celebrity XL coming to Europe too. Celebrity Beyond will be year-round in the Caribbean and Celebrity Edge will sail Alaskan and Australian itineraries.
Giles explains the strategy is to ensure Celebrity Cruises has really strong offers for consumers and trade partners to ensure there are plenty of incentives to sell Celebrity and make it profitable for [agencies].
He spoke about winning awards which is a wonderful recognition of the hard work a team has invested over the year and this is an opportunity for Celebrity Cruises to celebrate agencies and their dedication in 2024. He also mentioned that Celebrity Cruises won their own selection of awards with ITTN’s front and centre on the presentation!
The Awards
Claire Stirrup took to the stage and welcomed guests and team members. Speaking of the agencies winning awards at the event, she said: “Our winners have achieved new heights, they’ve done something differently or game-changing that really sets them apart and truly makes them winners in our eyes”.
Click & Go – Award Winner
Claire explained, “So we now move over the water to our colleagues in the Emerald Isle. This particular team has taken an integrated marketing approach, utilising press advertising, social media, blogs and podcasts, all of which have contributed to their success. They are growing their share of our business in Ireland, at a rapid rate of knots. Their excellent product knowledge and service-driven approach made them true ambassadors for Celebrity. Our winners are Click&Go.”.
A delighted Paul Hackett took to the stage to accept the award with rapturous applause from the Irish contingent.
Superstar Award – Oasis Travel
Claire’s final Superstar Award went to Sandra Corkin (Executive Director), Oasis Travel, Northern Ireland.
Claire highlighted, “This goes to someone whose remarkable contributions and achievements deserve the highest honour. At the forefront of innovation, they are constantly looking for new ways to market and reach their consumers. A testament to their creativity and forward-thinking approach is the design and development of the Edge Series Virtual Reality Headsets which they use both in-store and consumer events to showcase Celebrity. That dedication doesn’t stop there. Every year they run highly successful cruise events with their best event to date being just last September. The knowledge and passion of their whole team for the Celebrity product are unparalleled, consistently delivering an elevated service to their customers. Not to mention their phenomenal leadership and vision have driven their business to new heights but also set a benchmark for excellence in our industry. We’re immensely grateful for their unwavering support, innovation and commitment to our products.”
The full list of Celebrity Cruises 2025 Travel Agent Appreciation Awards winners includes:
- Trailfinders – commended for their unwavering support and exemplary performance, resulting in another record-breaking year.
- Barrhead Travel Retail – noted for their strategic vision and commitment to Celebrity Cruises air allocations, making travel seamless for their customers.
- Love It Book It – recognised for their constant improvement year after year, creative TV marketing, and support in the Caribbean.
- InteleTravel – The team has been recognised as rising stars, doubling business, smashing targets.
- Cruise365 – called out for their for focus on Fly Med and Ex-UK products, along with a comprehensive approach to communication & marketing.
- Click & Go – earned recognition for achieving double-digit growth, thanks to extensive product knowledge and an integrated marketing approach.
- Travel Counsellors – recognised for their outstanding onboard sales, and truly commendable promotion of ‘future cruise’ benefits.
- The Advantage Travel Partnership – commended for a strong focus on training, product knowledge, and providing the right tools and support, empowering their members to succeed.
- Gold Medal – celebrated for introducing Celebrity to even more agents and guests and for their seamless collaboration.
- Imagine Cruising – applauded for their unique Cruise & Stay experiences, creativity, and dedication to offering unparalleled travel experiences
- Iglu Cruise – honoured for their innovative approach and pursuit of quality.
- Stewart Travel – recognised for taking advantage of every opportunity offered, showcasing incredible passion and determination.
- Hays – recognised for doubling guest numbers for in-house tour operations, leading in Retreat volume, achieving triple-digit growth in long-haul products, and launching successful hosted groups.
- Dave Mills – scooped an individual award for showing passion, dedication, and ability to turn creative ideas into successful executions.
- Sandra Corkin – recognised following 40 incredible years in business for her work in growing the partnership with Celebrity Cruises and for setting a benchmark for leadership and vision excellence in the industry.
As well as honouring the amazing work of Celebrity Cruises’ travel partners during 2024, the awards event gave agents the chance to meet with the wider Celebrity Cruises UK & Ireland sales team, including new Regional Sales Managers, Sharon Wilson, who brings with her more than 20 years’ experience in the industry to the mix and Peter Bentman, who joins the team following a role with Travel Counsellors.
Travel partners are being supported throughout Wave, with the popular Celebrity Moments campaign live until 3rd March offering a total prize pot of £50,000 for high-performing agents, alongside £10 earnings in Celebrity Rewards for every sale made, irrespective of stateroom category or value. For their clients, Celebrity Cruises is offering savings up to 35% on cruise fares, up to £200 savings on airfares as well as the ease of flexible bookings, with the opportunity to change ship and sail date once, completely free of charge.
The Aqua Shard
The setting was at the sumptuous and stylish fine dining restaurant, Aqua Shard. Located on the 31st level of The Shard, it offers panoramic views of the city of London. The meal included Lincolnshire Celeriac Velouté (Shimeji mushroom, croutons & truffle butter); corn-fed chicken (Savoy cabbage, Pommery mustard & herb velouté) with a side of crispy potatoes; and dessert of Caramelia Brownie with banana crisps, whipped caramel ganache or passion fruit cheesecake. It was as delicious as it sounds.
