Navigate, Innovate and Excel was the theme of CLIA’s Cruise360 event in Brisbane this week— and many of the 80 Kiwi agents attending welcomed the focus on the positive and insights into the sector’s emerging cruise trends.
While much discussion in the New Zealand cruise context has been about the reduced number of cruise ship visits, a number of Kiwi agents said the changing market dynamic was actually growing their fly-cruise business—and welcomed the event’s focus on the global growth. In terms of trends to watch, the falling average age of the cruise passenger (42 years for MSC) and the ever-growing luxury segment are said to be attracting new-to-cruise clients. A number of the Kiwi consultants say they will be looking to maximise this opportunity. “The top two takeaways for me were the importance of highlighting [cruise’s] value throughout the marketing and booking journey and also the emerging importance of Gen Z through to Gen A and how to market and target these customers,” says House of Travel head of cruise Jeff Leckey. And as inter-generational wealth transfer continues to grow, First Travel Group’s Kylie Crouch believes there is significant untapped potential within younger demographics. “We should be positioning cruising as an ideal holiday option for this audience. Booking behaviours are evolving, making it increasingly important for customers to plan ahead in order to secure their preferred suites,” says Crouch. “Early engagement is key to meeting expectations and maximising customer satisfaction.” At the same time, the conference highlighted the differences between the Aussie and Kiwi agents, with several cruise lines noting that New Zealand agents were far ahead of their Aussie counterparts in embracing fly-cruise packages. Visiting CLIA president and ceo Bud Darr said he was impressed with the turnout and the agent engagement at the conference, which CLIA Australasia md Joel Katz also declared has ‘undoubtedly been one of our best Cruise360 events ever’.
. . . Two Days
The new two-day format of the event was welcomed by delegates and cruise lines attending. Katz says the format provided a much broader platform and has allowed attendees to talk in more detail about the trends shaping international cruising. Next year’s event is in Sydney 17-18 Sep.
