The Ambassador Trade Portal has been developed over the past 12 months with the help of Colchester-based agency ROL Cruise who allowed their teams to test both the new portal and the existing one to compare them.
Ambassador Cruise Line said the portal has been “built around the needs of travel agents from the outset, rather than simply updating the existing system”.
Previously, agents would share one log-in, but the new trade portal will allow individual agents to sign up. This means Ambassador can track an individual agent’s performance and reward them accordingly.
The new trade portal will replace multiple systems and combines cruise search, booking management, live campaigns, trade incentives, training, downloadable marketing assets, ship visit requests, and business support.
The enhanced cruise search mirrors the customer booking journey, the line said, allowing agents to search sailings using the same intuitive filters available on Ambassador's consumer website and quickly identify applicable offers with fewer clicks than before.
Nicola Harper, Head of Distribution at Ambassador Cruise Line, told TTG she expects 10,000 agents to be signed up by September.
“Our partners should have an industry-leading website,” she said. “Agents work with so many different companies, we want our portal to be best in class and to really bring our product to life so they can up-sell effectively.
“On Monday (27 July), we’re sending our registered partners a link so that they can set up their individual log-ins. I would say that more than 10,000 agents will be signed up by September. It is going to be huge.”
She added that she and Karen Cameron, Ambassador’s Deputy Head of Trade, had previously been agents and knew how “antiquated” cruise bookings systems often were.
“We’ve never had anyone say that ours is horrendous,” stressed Harper. “Trade is the biggest part of our business. We will continue to build on this. It’s not going to stand still.”
Cameron, who announced the plans to trade partners on Ambition during a ship visit in Dundee on Friday 24 July, said: “Rather than asking agencies to share logins, every consultant will have their own secure account from day one, allowing them to access personalised campaigns and making it easier for us to recognise, support and reward the individuals and businesses helping to grow Ambassador.”