FEATURE SELLING GROUPS
Main picture: Try your luck at the NCL casino; from left: Chicago takes to the stage on RSSC'S Allure of the Seas; hands on in the kitchen with RSSC chefs
Cruise.co.uk chairman Andrew
Gardner, an old hand at organising group travel, says it’s also important for agents to link with a cruise line that does groups well. “The coach full of locals driving
down to join a cruise is a thing of the past", he says. “There are now good coach and transport links to ports from all parts of the country so it’s possible for agents to cast their net wide and gather travellers from far and wide (and even from abroad) if there’s a special interest to unite them.” An example is a cruise he’s put together for a round Britain cruise on Fred. Olsen’s Balmoral. Held to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the launch of Gardeners’ World magazine and featuring Alan Titchmarsh, it’s attracted a group of 350 people.
Smaller groups For smaller groups wanting a vessel to themselves, Gardner says river boats are by far the best option. “We get a lot of enquiries to charter ships but they are too big, whereas riverboats are ideal for smaller special interest groups like musical societies and gardening clubs. “On a riverboat, a group can get a
drinks parties and bridge tours and
even in-cabin extras like bottles of bubbly, flowers or fruit baskets. And the harder to sell the sailing, the better a deal the group organiser will get. “Groups are a key part of our business, and affinity groups are particularly helpful in filling repositioning sailings as they’re happy to spend more days at sea enjoying talks, workshops or film shows associated with their special interest, “ says Andy Stuart, executive vice president of global sales and passenger services for Norwegian Cruise Line. But cruise lines are becoming fussier
about the type of group they want to work with. “We increasingly prefer to work with
travel agents booking affinity groups rather than speculative group agents who book a block of accommodation with us at an agreed price, wait for the price to go up as the departure date approaches and then sell at a discounted rate to consumers who don’t even know they’re travelling as a
22 Autumn 2011 •
www.sellinglonghaul.com
group,” says Jo Rzymowska, UK general manager for Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises. “This encourages discounting and
we’re not interested in it. On the other hand, we do court agents bringing in genuine group business, be the groups interested in singing, dancing, gardening, or simply fan clubs. We just want to be sure that agents are creating a true group, and using their free cabins to provide group leaders a good experience, rather than using them to offer yet another discount.” Cruise & Maritime Voyages has
released a 2012 Especially for Groups brochure and has expanded its dedicated group sales department. Says Chris Coates, CMV’s commercial
director: “During the past year we have carried more groups than ever prompting the release of a dedicated brochure and expansion of our group sales team. With an increased programme capacity in 2012 of 50,000 passengers we are targeting between 5-7% of group sales and are confident
that with the group deals and support package we have in place, we can achieve these levels”.
Sourcing group business Presenting to local groups such as historical societies, golf clubs and gardening clubs is a good source of business says Rzymowska who cites the internet as an increasingly rich source of affinity group bookings. “The whole digital era we are moving
into is changing the profile and pattern of who buys cruises, how they cruise and who they cruise with,” she says. “Social networking sites like Facebook are all about community and many people who get together there go on to do it for real. “Special interest websites increasingly
have forums where like-minded people connect with each other, so the business is there for agents with the imagination and drive to go for it and we are always happy to co-operate with any agent who has a good, innovative idea.”
real sense of community and have the entire cruise themed to their particular interest,” says Gardner. That said, big-ship operators like RCI
and Celebrity Cruises are increasingly successful at wooing groups on board. “RCI’s Group Amenities Programme (GAP) gives some good perks, like one free cabin in 15 and US$50pp onboard credit, depending on how high demand is for a particular sailing,” he adds.
Bring in the stars “P&O Cruises has been very imaginative about getting big name stars like magician Derren Brown and singer Russell Watson on as headline acts on ex-UK mini-cruises. These attract a huge amount of interest with the Russell Watson sailing apparently seliing out within eight minutes! They are a good `peg’ for getting together a group, and I think other cruise lines will look at their success and consider following suit, because if you simply charge an extra £20 per cruise ticket it covers the star’s fee.” •
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