Major discounts on many of the popular cruise lines during the recent recession has caused many travel agencies to lose out on profits over the past few months. The newly offered discounts have caused holidaymakers seeking to go on cruises to purchase their tickets directly through the cruise line without the aid of travel agents.

The boom in the industry due to discounts is seeing a rise in profits for cruise lines, but with cheaper tickets being relatively easy to come by as of late, passengers are bypassing travel agencies altogether and booking cruises directly, causing smaller or independent firms to struggle to earn a profit in the cruise markets.

Julia Lo Bue, director of Advantage Travel Centres, has pleaded with cruise lines to cease offering massive discounts to customers as at the moment it is becoming the travel industries biggest woe for profit turnover. She also encouraged the cruise companies to not offer discounts directly, as the effects on smaller travel agencies could be permanently damaging.

The Advantage Group is responsible for roughly 15 percent of the British cruise market, and has stated that although this year’s bookings have been high due to the great deals being offered, the travel agencies which offer these tours and cruises have not seen much profit on the sales. Travel agents are now being instructed to not offer any discounts on cruises unless the customer specifically requests them to do so.

So far, widespread discounts have shown mixed results for profit margins for the cruise industry, with some major companies reporting huge spikes in sales- up to 30 percent for reservations in 2010, but some smaller companies have been forced to shut down claiming the economic climate is impossible to weather.