There are still plenty of options for Australians wanting a Disney Cruise, despite the line’s local withdrawal, with significant growth in the Asia market, Disney Destinations vice president International Sales & Marketing, Jeff van Langeveld says.
“We have big plans for growth,” he said on day 1 of the Cruise 360 Australia conference in Brisbane. “We currently have a fleet of six ships, and we are adding two more for the end of this year, the Disney Destiny will arrive and sail on its maiden voyage in November, and then Disney Adventure comes to Singapore.
“This is going to be our newer ship, our largest ship, and it will be based in Singapore, with its main voyage starting in December.”
Exponential global growth in the cruise market, greater demand in new markets such as Asia, different demographics sailing, plus limited supply of ships, meant lines had to go where the market was most profitable, the conference heard earlier.
“I think a lot of companies are moving into the Asian region, and we’re seeing more consumers from that region sail,” Langeveld said.
Langeveld’s appearance at CLIA’s 10th anniversary conference, comes on the back of news earlier this month that the line would cease local operations, ditching departures from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane for 2026/27, and basing itself out of Singapore for the next five years.
“We are currently going to be sailing in the Australia and New Zealand region up until February 2026. Disney Wonder will not return for the 2026/2027 season,” the line said.
New marketing strategies
To attract new audiences Disney Destinations’ Langeveld said advisors need to know the product and go where their clients’ eyes are, across multiple generations.
“Know your product incredibly well,” he advised. “And then know your target audience, it could be your current customers, or if you’re going after new audiences, but know that audience well, because they certainly whether it be demographic or psychographic, they have different needs.”
“For you to be able to kind of match that right product and that right experience, you have to know what those needs are, who the decision makers are, what their barriers (such as inclusions) and motivators are.”
While the grandparents often paid for some or part of a cruise, the mums are usually the decision makers, he said. He also suggested advisors update their ideas about their demographics, too.
“The oldest Millennials are now in their early 40s,” he said. “They have waited quite some time to have families, but they are doing so now. From a Disney perspective, the millennials are absolutely a core target.”
Add to that understanding the different tools different demographics are using – such as YouTube, TikTok and ChatGPT – and advisors have a better chance of tapping into a whole new market, he said.
As for the future of the local Disney market while it’s farewell for now, he said, there are other options that are not are too far away.
“We selected Singapore for a number of reasons, but one is it’s a central location and just being able to really provide a Disney Experience fairly close to home or relatively close to home to a lot of new audiences,” he said.
“So Southeast Asia, for example, China, India, Taiwan, these are all really big source markets for Disney Adventure, but also Australia, New Zealand, as well as Japan and South Korea.
“Then, as I look to the future, we’ve announced that in 2028 we will be bringing a ship to sail in Japan full time. So, another great addition to the APAC region.”
