The Next Five Years
“I think it’s all going to be about high value, itinerary diversity and access. People want more meaningful journeys and to go deeper than ever before into a destination,” said Deb Corbett, Chief Executive Officer APAC, PONANT Explorations,
“Excitingly, for Australasia and Southeast Asia, I think that these destinations are at the heart of this really exciting evolution.
“I think the expedition sector isn’t competing on scale. What we do is we lead with access. Why? Because access is the new luxury and that is really exciting.”
Gavin Smith, Vice President & Managing Director, Royal Caribbean, echoed the positive sentiments.
“I think over the next five years – air connectivity, technology, millennials – all of that is just going to see the growth of fly/cruise, so its super exciting. And there’s no real limit. We’re unable to build ships fast enough to satisfy the demand. Exciting times.”
Golden Years & Golden Potential
Ben Angell, Vice President & Managing Director APAC, Norwegian Cruise Line, believes there’s never been a better time to be involved in cruising, both globally and especially in this part of the world.
“If you look at the support and engagement we’re getting from the trade, I don’t think it’s ever been higher. The great work that CLIA is doing, the relationships that we’ve got with government and industry, I don’t think have ever been better.”
Mr Angell added that the fly/cruise market represents a big opportunity to double or even triple the number of Australians heading overseas to take a cruise.
(Left to right): Peter Little, Lisa Pile, Ben Angell
“It’s an uncapped growth opportunity and it is where the travel trade have an incredible opportunity to add value and to earn off those high value opportunities and I think that’s the future.”
Mr Angell pointed to the figures that show seven million Australians travel overseas a year yet only 200,000 of them do so to take a cruise.
“As a cruise industry we are engaging with a more dynamic, younger, multi-generational audience and we are engaging with first time cruisers in ways we never have before.
“Domestic cruise has been a fantastic on ramp to new cruise over the last two decades. I think cruise in this part of the world is on the edge of going from niche to becoming mainstream, as it should be.”
Keeping Australia Attractive
The recent decision by some cruise lines to withdraw their ships from Australian waters has made headlines Down Under. The experts say we shouldn’t be too alarmed…yet.
“We’ve started conversations with governments and other operators to explain the value of cruise tourism to them and have given them examples of how it works from across the world,” said Peter Little, Senior Vice President & Country Manager, Carnival.
“Hopefully they will listen and learn and begin to work on improving the situation so that we can continue to grow in this region.”
“It’s very easy for us to think down here that we are unique in terms of the movement of ships and the focus of deployment. We are not,” said Mr Angell.
“We do have a set of challenges that could be seen as unique, but in general, we are going through what is not an uncommon cycle that is dependent on macro, socio-economic factors and we’ve seen ships move to places where they can return the most profit, which makes absolute perfect sense.”
The Lure Of Luxury
“There’s a lot of new players and also new ships and they’re bringing new clientele,” said Lisa Pile, Vice President Sales & General Manager APAC, Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
“Seeing this room, where we’ve got over 850 travel advisors, who are bringing all those new clients to cruise, no matter whether it be river or ocean or expedition, there is a huge opportunity and so much potential out there.
“We’re seeing that the increase in wealth across all the demographic segments is causing a paradigm shift in what consumer travel expectations are.
“So in that really ultra luxury space, we’re seeing a trend for slower, more considered travel Our guests are spending more on travel and they’re traveling for longer.”
Is It Worth It?
On the subject of affordability in the midst of a cost of living crisis, the experts pointed out the value of cruising as opposed to other holiday styles.
“When you look at all the inclusions, cruise delivers time and time again,” said Ms Corbett.
“It’s our responsibility as cruise lines to give our travel agents real comparisons, real life comparisons, so that you can be trusted ambassadors of this incredible value that we’re seeing in our industry.”
