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Chloe Palmer, partnership development manager at P&O Cruises, tells Andrew Doherty why cruise is an industry that’s continually evolving.
Advancing from apprentice travel agent at her local Cosham Tui store to partnerships development manager at P&O Cruises, Chloe Palmer, 24, had a go-getting attitude from the off.
In 2016, three years after joining Tui, Palmer became retail manager at the Alton branch, heading up a team of five agents. Despite her success there, Palmer yearned for a role to push her out of her comfort zone.
“I was fascinated by the cruise industry, and with Carnival House right on my doorstep in Southampton, I thought I’d explore that avenue,” she says.
Now partnerships development manager at P&O, Palmer is tasked with providing account management support, with an annual revenue responsibility of more than £22 million. She has leveraged her commercial know-how as well as P&O’s sales resources to help her agent partners hit their targets.
However, she admits that working in the cruise industry isn’t always plain sailing.
“Cruise is fast-paced, and each day brings innovations. We have to work to overcome the misconceptions people have about cruising while communicating the experience in a way that gets people excited about trying a cruise holiday. Only a small percentage of holidaymakers have been on a cruise, so there is a huge opportunity to engage with a wider audience,” she says.
Palmer says young people considering a career in cruise shouldn’t be put off by the industry’s reputation for being popular with more mature clients.
“I took my best friend, also 24, on her first cruise last year, and now she’s hooked,” she laughs. “There has been a shift in client demographic – more young couples and families are seeking experiential cruise holidays.”
For others looking to reach the next level in their careers, Palmer recommends TTG’s Tomorrow’s Travel Leaders programme. “I loved the networking opportunities and getting to know other like-minded young people with a drive to succeed,” she says.
Lisa McAuley, managing director at Gold Medal and Travel 2, sponsor’s of Tomorrow’s Travel Leaders, says:
“What a motivated young woman Chloe is. She is the perfect example of how an agent apprenticeship can open doors to a range of career opportunities in the travel industry. Chloe has used all the tools available to her, including the TTG Tomorrow’s Travel Leaders programme, to develop professionally, and I applaud her motivation in seeking out a role in the cruise industry that both challenges and rewards her.”
