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20 August, 2024

OPINION: How to turn small ships into big business – sell the experience not the cruise

Edited by Travel Weekly

Established in 2003, Cruise Traveller is Australia’s leader in the small ship market, representing, packaging and selling journeys and adventures offered by 63 boutique, luxury, river and expedition cruising operators around the world. Cruise Traveller Managing Director Joseph O’Sullivan offers his view in this first opinion piece for Cruise News.

We all know that cruise is big business for agents but the biggest growth is coming from the smallest ships with figures from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) showing that expedition cruises are the fastest growing segment of the global cruise industry, with a sizeable 71 per cent growth in patronage from 2019 to 2023.

As Australia’s leader in the packaging and distribution of small ship product, with 63 boutique, luxury, river and expedition cruising operators around the world, and through our bespoke agency network, The Small Ship Collective, Cruise Traveller knows that smaller ships can deliver the travel industry big profits but the secret to tapping its huge potential lies, ironically, in ‘uncruising’ the product.

While, yes, we are definitely seeing more big ship cruisers opting for a premium experience on smaller ships, future growth will ultimately come from those who have not cruised and who haven’t even considered cruise as an option.

At Cruise Traveller we see niche, luxury and expedition cruising as the most likely way of bringing those non-cruisers across to the benefits of travelling and seeing a destination by ship.

Cruising has diversified considerably in recent times and small ships offer vastly different experiences to the product offering of large ships. So much so that we in the small ship sector need to virtually ‘decruise’ the concept to sell our wares more accurately, powerfully and effectively.

Premium expedition ships today offer luxe, ‘base camp’-type adventures that access remote, far-flung places brimming with pristine nature and authentic culture – where guests are immersed in the essence of a place while the onboard experience is indulgent, relaxed, unhurried, streamlined, personal and inclusive.

At Cruise Traveller, utilising our product knowledge and expertise, we empower agents to sell the small ship offering as a ‘journey’, ‘voyage’ ‘adventure’, ‘expedition’, ‘discovery’ or ‘experience’ – and not as a cruise per se.

One of our latest partners is Atlas Ocean Voyages which showcases its strengths beyond ‘cruise’ to focus on the bold, intimate and in-depth experiences it offers at wild and pristine destinations around the globe.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking your clients are aware of the huge array of small ship options. You need to proactively showcase what is on offer,

So, the way forward for small ship is not about moving your loyal cruise guests from one genre to another but about utilising the vast small ship product range to grow your database to an expanded demographic And that’s where Cruise Traveller can help because small ships are our business!

Of course, a positive by-product of selling small ships for you and the cruise industry is that these first-time cruisers return home from a boutique, small-vessel expedition not only loving the destination but also loving the experience of being on a ship, opening the way for other cruise sale opportunities, particularly multi- gen travel.

The demand for small ship, boutique, expedition and ultra luxury cruises has, clearly, never been higher, driven by travellers’ desire to travel with less people to more unique destinations on more immersive and enriching itineraries. As experts in this space, Cruise Traveller is playing a pivotal role in guiding and assisting travel agents to capitalise on the segment’s rising wave of potential.

www.cruisetraveller.com.au

If you are an industry leader, are passionate about a topic in the cruise industry and want to voice your opinion, please email traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au and write Cruise News Opinion in the subject line.

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