TUI Cruises, the Hamburg based premium market cruise shipping company, says that it will be launching a marketing initiative to target travel agents in the southern parts of Germany in order to increase retailers’ and customers’ awareness about the company and to boost sales.

Residents in the southern states of Germany spend a lot on holidays and TUI Cruises intends to capitalise more on this market. In the north and west, where major embarkation ports such as Hamburg and Kiel and nearer by, the cruise sector is thriving and the cruise holiday concept has been well received by consumers, said Michael Baden, Director of Sales at TUI Cruises.

In January, Baden and his team will launch “Vertriebsoffensive Süd” (“Sales Offensive South) to raise the profile of the company and its Mein Schiff fleet in the states of Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg, plus Switzerland and Austria, ahead of the introduction of the 97,300 gross ton Mein Schiff 3 next spring. A sister vessel is due a year later.