Here is Part 2 of Larry Haugh’s interview with Vacation Agent magazine.

Who’s your typical client?
We’ve found that 50 percent of our passengers have been involved in boating at some point in their life. Anybody who owns boats…[or belongs to] any type of sailing club or yacht club, whether they’re power or sail boats, are potential clients. Our passenger is an average age of 55 with a household income of $120,000 who takes about three weeks vacation a year.

We offer a four-star product and we [use] actual sailing ships—our ships are designated SPV, for sail passenger vessel. We have engines, but we go primarily by sails as much and as frequently as possible. Over 80 percent of our American guests have been on previous cruises, and then they come to us because they want to do something different. We’re truly experiential when it comes to travel.

What sorts of programs do you have for travel agents?
Travel agents are the primary source of our business. One exciting new program is for groups in 2010 and ‘11 that gives clients savings of up to 50 percent off the brochure rates. A group size with us is only nine paying guests, and the 10th sails free, so you earn TCs much faster. We do have a maximum of two tour conductors per group, occupying the same cabin. If agents achieve group numbers, they can earn a $500 to $1,000 bonus commission per group. We’re currently redoing our website, and in the spring we plan to have a new, improved travel agent area on it as well. We don’t have a booking engine, but we have postcards and e-mails and flyers that can be customized.

Larry Haugh is vice president of sales for Star Clippers Americas.