AFTER only a month at the helm as ecruising.travel's executive general manager, Alastair Fernie says he has been very impressed at the weight of both enquiry and bookings during January, even though heavy booking volumes are expected at the start of “Wave Season” in the cruise market.

Mr Fernie said, “The positive flow-on from 2014's record numbers for cruising and consumer awareness of the need to book early for the best deals certainly play their part and ecruising has enjoyed a record January with bookings exceeding all predictions.

“The trend is continuing into February as travellers continue to show their appreciation of the all-inclusive type of fly/cruise/land products with which ecruising specialises. This has been boosted by the recent launch of ecruising's exclusive Africa Safari cruise tours that include cruising on a Cunard liner. In fact the Ultimate Africa 41-night tour for 2016 sold out under a week.”

“The consumers' need for a travel agent that specialises in cruise holidays is only increasing” Mr Fernie reflects, adding, “in partnership with Brett Dudley, the founder of Ecruising, we are set to continue our lead in the online cruise specialist space.”