SANTA CLARITA,
Calif. -- Cunard Line and Princess Cruises combined their sales
forces, a move that follows last years merger of the two lines res
systems, fleet operations, ports planning, senior hotel positions
and office space.
Weve relooked at
the organization, said Peter Ratcliffe, the CEO of Princess and
Cunard.
The action will
help increase the number of Cunard retailers, Ratcliffe said. The
line has enjoyed a high profile following the debut of the Queen
Mary 2, but due to a relatively small corporate structure it has a
limited sales reach within the trade.
Travel agents who
could easily sell Cunard have not had sales and marketing support
to do so, Jan Swartz, senior vice president for sales, told Travel
Weekly in an interview.
The Cunard/Princess
integration has been happening all over the world. This was the
last area we had to take a look at and, obviously, the
largest.
The two sales
departments have already been combined in the U.K. and Australia,
along with the sales operations of other P&O Princess brands
such as P&O Cruises and Ocean Village, all of which are managed
by Ratcliffe.
The lines combined
fleet and back-office operations after Cunard relocated in
September 2004 from Miami to Princess headquarters here, just north
of Los Angeles.
About 14 district
sales positions were eliminated as a result of the
merger.
Princess and
Cunards vice presidents of sales were reassigned to posts in the
combined group: Jim Baer was named vice president of national
account sales, and Lee Robinson is vice president of field
sales.
Many retailers last
week were sorting out contact information for sales reps. But Diane
Moore, the vice president, supplier sales
and merchandising for Virtuoso, said the
news didnt come as a major surprise. I think we all expected it
from last September, when they merged and moved out here, she
said.
She added: You dont
want to commoditize the Cunard product to be just like the Princess
product. That would be the only fear.
Don Walker, a
founder of WMPH Vacations in Delray Beach, Fla., said he wasnt
concerned about losing Cunard within the Princess organization. No
matter who you merged the Queen Mary 2 with, its always going to be
the Queen Mary 2, Walker said.
To contact
reporter Rebecca Tobin, send e-mail to rtobin@travelweekly.com.