Virgin Voyages aims to host 1,000 agents on ship visits this year.

From August, Resilient Lady will sail from Portsmouth on voyages ranging from four to six nights, giving the line a “unique advantage” to host agents on turnaround days, Shane Riley, vice-president of international sales and marketing, told Travel Weekly.

During the ship’s ex-UK season, Virgin Voyages plans to host up to 1,000 agents, which the line calls ‘First Mates’, who have not yet been on board any of the ships in its fleet, giving them the opportunity to have a “one-day holiday”.

Riley said the line hosted 25% of its active trade partners on ship visits in 2023 and he aims to surpass that number this year.

“It was great having so many of our First Mates on board last year and we want even more this year, which should be doable as we have a ship sailing out of the UK,” he said.

“We will be taking First Mates on board on every turnaround day and giving them the chance to tour the ship, eat at one of the restaurants, drink at a bar and chill out.

“We want to extend the offer to people who have completed our academy training but haven’t seen the ship, and we know that once they’ve seen it, they’ll pay dividends in terms of future bookings.”

He added: “2024 is going to be the year of Virgin Voyages and we can’t wait to engage with more of our First Mates.”