Advantage is seeking a new Senior Commercial Cruise Executive to strengthen its cruise portfolio.
The new hire, who has not yet been appointed, is expected to join the team in early 2026, Director of Cruise Jonny Peat announced during the Advantage Latitude Cruise conference onboard Princess Cruises’ Sky Princess.
“Our ambitions for cruise are genuinely limitless, and we’re anticipating substantial continued growth in this pivotal sector throughout 2026 and beyond,” said Jonny.
“To capitalise on these opportunities and deliver further exceptional value to our members and stakeholders, we need to ensure our infrastructure and resources match our aspirations.”
The new team member will manage a portfolio of cruise partners, reporting to directly to Jonny, who will then have more time to focus on brining in new partners as well as strengthening relationships with existing ones.
“There are lots of cruise lines I’d like to have in our portfolio, but we don’t want to dilute what we already have, it’s about finding the right fit for our members,” said Jonny. “The small ship sector is one of the areas we could expand.”
Part of his strategy for 2026 is to add ‘new and innovative propositions from within the cruise sector and other sectors complementary to cruise’, he said.
Advantage announced a new partnership with Imagine Cruising at the conference. The operator creates bespoke packages combining cruises with rail trips, hotels and land tours.
Jonny added: “Our members are increasingly recognising cruise as a key growth opportunity, and I’m excited to strengthen our commitment to the sector.”
Advantage Marketing Director David Forder said the group is putting ‘a lot more emphasis’ on cruise in the content it sends to customers since relaunching its marketing programme on 1 October. It has created an annual calendar of direct and digital campaigns, which will intensify during Peaks, and it can segment agents’ databases to target customers with different, personalised messages.
Customers are ranked from scorching (repeat bookers) to frozen (never booked or haven’t booked for a while) and sent relevant communications. The marketing programme can also trigger pre- and post-departure emails, based on booking data.
Navigate, Latitude’s consumer cruise magazine, now reaches 80,000 readers per issue, which includes twice-yearly digital editions, available with individual member branding, reaching up to 60,000 customers, and – for the first time – a printed edition for turn-of-year, distributed alongside the Advantage Journeys magazine to around 20,000 homes across the UK.
The Cruise Collection, a dedicated cruise magazine, is sent to 60,000 customers digitally and 20,000 in print, personalised with members’ branding and customer details.
David said Advantage will look to introduce a ‘Prospect’ campaign next year to re-engage customers who enquired but didn’t book, plus anniversary emails sent to customers on the date they booked the previous year to drive repeat business.
At the conference, Forder also revealed a Latitude brand refresh, which he said ‘reflects Advantage’s broader visual identity and reinforces its commitment to supporting members through a modern, dynamic approach to cruise marketing, product development and training’.
