Princess Cruises held a cooking challenge for travel agents in Malaysia as part of its ongoing relationship-building program with the local travel industry community, according to a statement.
Over 60 travel agents attended events held in Kuala Lumpur and Penang designed to strengthen relationships and reward agents while generating excitement and fun, Princess said.
Princess Cruises had held a similar event for travel agents in Jakarta last year which waswell received by participants and decided to replicate the challenge in Malaysia this year. The cooking challenge was met with the same enthusiasm from agents, and again inspired creativity while strengthening camaraderie outside of the office environment.
“This initiative is proving to be a great way to not only cook up a great meal but also strengthen team bonds with travel agents who play an increasingly important role in booking cruises and ensuring a premium guest experience. This is also a way for us to reward travel agents who specialise in selling cruises and I was delighted to see the agents enjoying themselves with plenty of laughter and gusto,” said Farriek Tawfik, Director of Southeast Asia Princess Cruises.
“We find that experienced cruisers prefer to book through their travel agents who will always have a role to play in the booking process, especially so for Fly-Cruise bookings which require other booking arrangements and not only the cruise booking,” added Tawfik. He also said that travel agents have undergone familiarisation trips, underwent online training at Princess Academy to get certified and attended many seminars so they really know the products well and are able to advise their clients on which cruises and itineraries suit them.
Prior to the cooking challenge, Princess Cruises made a presentation on its global portfolio of new 2019 itineraries to Alaska, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Australia/New Zealand, other Exotic destinations, as well as the new homeporting itineraries where Sapphire Princess and Diamond Princess will be based in Singapore from November 2018 to March 2019 for sailings in the region.
