MSC Cruises has named the winner of its Magnificent 7 competition.
Becky North of Cruise.co.uk has won a seven-night sailing on MSC Seaside out of Miami to the Caribbean next summer.
North beat-off competition from six other finalists for her sales plan for MSC’s ex-UK ship Magnifica, coming to Southampton in 2018.
Her plan featured a dedicated blog, encouraging people to switch to MSC and promoting Magnifica’s all-inclusive offers.
All seven finalists were invited to attend the launch of Meraviglia in June.
North said: “When I won a place on the launch of MSC Meraviglia, I was ecstatic and I couldn’t believe it.
“From then I knew I would have a one in seven chance of winning a place on the MSC Seaside. I am a firm believer of being optimistic and I was really hoping that I would win, which I suppose is how the others felt but when I won, I just couldn’t believe it. It was so surreal but I was so happy.
“I can’t believe how lucky I am and really thankful to the MSC staff both at the event in Crawley and the staff I met on-board MSC Meraviglia.”
Magnificent 7 trade events were also held across the country in seven key areas – Crawley, Cardiff, Belfast, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow; with up to 100 agents at each.
The events were held to build awareness of the line’s ex-UK ship, MSC Magnifica, and the itineraries available.
There will be five new itineraries out of Southampton, between April and November, including a 14-day sailing calling at Le Havre, La Coruna, Leixoes, Lisbon, Malaga then Amsterdam and Hamburg.
Antonio Paradiso, managing director UK and Ireland said: “The Magnificent 7 events are an example of our trade focused strategy in action.
“Since doubling our sales force our ambition has been to meet with as many travel agents as possible in order to educate them about our product.
“At MSC Cruises we are really passionate about our product and the best way to share this passion and get travel agents engaged with our new EX UK offering is events like the Magnificent 7 events where they have the opportunity to meet with the sales team face to face, ask questions and learn about the brand.”