Gibbs brings 15 years’ travel industry experience to the role, including 10 years working for Tui Group followed by six years at Midcounties Co-op recruiting and supporting its homeworking division.

“After many successful years at Midcounties Personal Travel Agents, I have learnt so much [about] homeworking and also working for an independent agent. I’m excited to bring my knowledge and experience to help GoCruise and Travel expand the travel side of the business.

“Working with self-employed agents to grow their businesses along with building relationships with tour operators is a great part of what I do. With GoCruise and Travel, I’m very much looking forward to helping grow the number of agents and help those current agents increase their travel sales.”

Steve Williams, managing director of Fred Olsen Travel, added: “For more than a decade, we have established ourselves and continued to grow our business as specialists within the cruise industry.

“However, more of our franchisees have identified their clients do more than just cruise, and so the chance to work with someone of Sam’s experience and contacts within travel is a very exciting opportunity for us.

“I am looking forward to seeing a development of non-cruise sales and growth in agent partners to take our business forward. Obviously, this is an opportune time with the market in a state of flux.”