Azamara puts onus on agents

Azamara puts onus on agents
By admin


Cruises lines who slash rates to win business are not serving the industry well, according to Azamara Club Cruises, as the upmarket cruise line stressed it had no desire to become embroiled in a price war.

Vice president of sales and marketing Edie Bornstein told Travel Today that Azamara had put trust in its product and held firm on pricing.

She urged travel agents who are faced with cheaper rates than Azamara to ensure they carefully compare what product is being offered before making the sale.

“What I say at every presentation to travel agents is that it’s your responsibility to point out to your clients what brand X is doing and then compare it to Azamara,” Bornstein said.

Some competitors might leave a port at 7pm and call it a “late night stay”, she explained.

“But we stay overnight and until midnight so clients can get the full experience of the destination,” she said. “The onus is on agents to truly compare. If agents don’t they are going to be remiss with clients. We offer product that others don’t so we are going to hold firm on our prices.”

Cutting rates is not sustainable or viable in the long term, Bornstein added.

“We add value by taking off a portion of the airfare, we offer on-board credit. But we have a saying that if you gain a client on price you eventually will inevitably lose that client on price,” she continued. “We have done our best to hold firm on our pricing and not get into some of the price wars that our esteemed competitors have. I don’t think it serves the industry well and it’s not a strategy that our brand wants to implement.”

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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