| P&O the king of meetings at sea

THE P&O Cruises team is out in force this week at the 25th annual Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo in Melbourne, promoting the line’s extensive range of short break cruises to the business events market.

P&O this morning unveiled an “unprecedented number of short break cruises from Sydney and Brisbane in 2018,” buoyed by demand for its two to four-night Sea Breaks.

P&O Cruises corporate sales manager, Rebecca Mutanen, told Cruise Weekly this morning the MICE-focused product offering had proved extremely popular since the company first targeted business events in 2015.

More than half of its annual meeting bookings are now on the short break cruises, with departures from Sydney and Brisbane dominating the mix.

“More and more organisers are discovering that short cruises offer a wonderful opportunity to give delegates a truly special meeting experience,” she said.

Mutanen said P&O’s 2016 group bookings were up a whopping 54%, with more growth expected.

Pictured at AIME channelling their inner Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet are, from left: Chris Rich, Rebecca Mutanen and Andrew Perry from P&O Cruises.