Le Boat’s Managing Director Cheryl Brown is aiming to work with more UK travel agents as the business continues to expand.
The self-drive boating business officially launched its new luxury Liberty range on Friday, as part of a £100 million 10-year investment.
Travelopia-owned Le Boat has an agreement with shipping company Groupe Beneteau and its boat manufacturer Delphia to build up to 400 vessels, with 25 new boats due to be delivered this year.
Le Boat is also upgrading its existing Horizon fleet, which launched in 2016.
Cheryl, who previously worked for TUI as both Chief Operating Officer of its marine division and, prior to that, MD of Sunsail, told Travel Gossip that travel agents account for around 5% of UK sales, but she hopes to see this increase to 10% in the coming years.
Talking at the launch of the Liberty range at the Salon Fluvial in Burgundy Franche-Comté, France, she said: “I would love to see more volume come from agents. The market trend is around 35% and in Germany 50% of our business is through the trade, so we would love to grow it in the UK.
“We want agents to get behind us. We know it’s a challenge as it’s a small part of their business, but we never disadvantage travel agents. We offer the same price that we offer direct, and we offer very healthy commissions. We can offer incentives, fams and training. We have the boats in the UK for agents to see for themselves to understand the product, so we really want them to get in touch with us.”
Le Boat has contracts in place with some of the larger consortia including Advantage, and with TUI, and a large majority of its distribution is through Hoseasons.
Cheryl said agents should consider offering boating holidays to clients looking for short breaks. “The fastest growing part of our business is the short breaks market and it’s a great way for customers to get into it – be that on the Thames or in Scotland, Ireland or France,” she said.
Le Boat has boats in Europe and is looking at other destinations after launching in Canada in 2016. “Canada is the start of our North America expansion and we are exploring further opportunities there. My other mission is to have a winter destination possibly in the US, as right now we are a summer destination only, so that would be great.”
Customers can now travel on the new two-cabin Liberty boats on the waterways in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, as well as on the Thames.
