LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
Dear Travel Advisor,
Successful advisors are increasingly trying to both expand their client base and sell
different types of vacations to their most loyal customers. One of those types of
vacations, which has traditionally been the most difficult to market to clients who
haven’t experienced it yet, is the cruise vacation.
And while COVID-19 has, perhaps, made that sell that much more difficult, the team
at Travel Market Report wanted to do what we could to help answer the questions
of what is the best strategy for advisors to use in order to successfully convert land
vacationers into cruise clients. To do so, we queried over 800 advisors on what they
found was their best strategy, including what destinations proved most attractive and
what the best sales strategies were. The result was this Outlook on New Cruisers.
The survey, which we sent out to our readers before COVID-19 really started to
impact the industry, should provide the insight and the knowledge necessary for
advisors to succeed with those clients who haven’t been brought into the cruise
market just yet. While COVID-19 has certainly changed the landscape, we believe
that advisors can still learn from what their colleagues have said about how they’ve
successfully converted land vacationers into ocean goers. New methods will be
born out of the next few months, but as the demand for cruising roars back post-
pandemic, it’s imperative that advisors have their sales processes down, and know
how to target that first-time cruiser.
The bottom line is that, though the conversions could prove more difficult than ever,
once advisors are able to make the initial sales, they’ll gain loyal repeat customers
and will be able to introduce them to a growing world of cruise offerings. As always,
we want to thank those who took the time to complete our survey, as well as our
sponsor, Royal Caribbean Group. We truly hope that this will help advisors gain
knowledge and a bedrock of skills that can benefit them now, as the industry readies
itself for the post-COVID demand, and in the future.
Sincerely,
Anne Marie Moebes
Publisher
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2020
EIGHT-HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN (814)
TRAVEL ADVISORS LOCATED IN NORTH
AMERICA RESPONDED TO THIS SURVEY.
The majority were advisors (65%) – including
independent contractors and employees –
while about one out of three (36%) were
agency owners.
The foundation of strength in new to cruise
sales is experience –
59% HAD MORE THAN
11 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, WHILE 40% OF
THOSE HAVE BEEN SELLING TRAVEL FOR
MORE THAN 20 YEARS
.
The Caribbean was decidedly the most sold
destination to first-time cruisers –
90% OF
RESPONDENTS SAID SO, FOLLOWED BY
ALASKA AT 52% OF RESPONDENTS.
NINETY-FOUR PERCENT (94%) OF ADVISORS
TICKED OCEAN CRUISES AS THE MOST
POPULAR CRUISE FOR FIRST-TIMERS
. As
expected, the most widely cited second choice
was
RIVER CRUISES (83%). EXPEDITION
CRUISES
was selected as the third-most
popular first-time cruise product by 87% of the
respondents.
Despite the rise of digital marketing with actual
ship videos,
THESE WERE RANKED SECOND
BY 59% OF ADVISORS.
Among 59% of the advisors, the most prominent
age range for first-time cruisers was
35-54
YEARS. ALSO BRIMMING WITH POTENTIAL
WAS THE 18-34 AGE BRACKET, WHICH WAS
THE PROMINENT AGE GROUP FOR 22% OF
THE ADVISORS.
THE MAJORITY OF FIRST-TIMERS
DISCOVERED THEIR ADVISORS THROUGH
REFERRALS (86%). SOCIAL MEDIA ALSO
plays
a huge role in discovery, with 68% attesting to it
as the source of new business.
SIXTY-NINE PERCENT (69%) OF ADVISORS
ACTIVELY RECOMMENDED CRUISES TO
HISTORICAL LAND TRAVELERS WHILE CLOSE
TO 40% OF ADVISORS
proactively reach out to
either existing or potential clients for cruises.
SIXTY-NINE PERCENT (69%) OF ADVISORS
WHO ACTIVELY PROMOTED CRUISING
TO FIRST-TIMERS DID SO BY SHARING
THEIR PERSONAL CRUISING EXPERIENCES.
Therefore, it was no surprise that almost an
equal share of 70% of the advisors prefer
familiarization trips as part of their cruise
training.
KEY
FINDINGS
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