SPOTLIGHT IGLU CRUISE ANNIVERSARY
CRUISE 10TH
IGLU ANNIVERSARY
Iglu Cruise’s bosses look back on the firm’s first 10 years and reveal plans to expand abroad. Hollie-Rae Merrick reports
Ten years ago London-based online agency Iglu was best known for selling ski, but that changed in 2006 when it began offering cruise holidays. Chief executive Richard Downs said at the time that the business wanted to get into “something that wasn’t dependent on seasons” and an area where agents could add extra value for customers who were unsure what to book. Downs and managing director Simone
Clark claim Iglu was the first agency “pushing cruise online” and say lines jumped at the chance to support them. “We had the ski business for eight years
before launching Iglu Cruise,” Downs says. “We were looking for something that wasn’t dependent on seasons and where agents could add value and help advise customers.”
Clark adds: “When we launched we
knew we would be online and be a bit disruptive, with the support of a call centre that could give customers additional advice and support.” Initially, six staff focused on cruise and
Clark also attributes Iglu’s initial success to support from well-known cruise industry figures such as Trevor Dupont (Carnival UK), Michael English (Celebrity Cruises), Iain Baillie (Carnival Cruise Line), Giles Hawke (then Carnival UK, now Cosmos Tours) and Steve Williams (Royal Caribbean International). She says: “The launches of ships such as P&O Cruises’ Ventura and Royal’s Independence of the Seas really changed the dial for us. P&O wanted to reach a
Richard Downs and Simone Clark
new audience and came to us. It had a huge marketing budget and offered us more co-op marketing money than I’d spent the year before that. They wanted to do cost-per-click marketing. Cruise lines have always been extremely supportive of us.” Downs claims the market was “calling
out” for someone to represent cruise online and Iglu Cruise filled that gap. Within five years, the cruise side of the business overtook ski and this growth accelerated following Iglu’s acquisition of rival Planet Cruise three years ago. Planet was about a third of the size of Iglu, with “no technology” in place and an archaic system, the pair say. However, the agency’s TV show, plus the expertise of its “extremely destination-focused” Planet team with its ability to tailor-make unique packages, made it extremely valuable to Iglu’s growth ambitions. Under Iglu’s ownership, Planet’s
revenues have doubled. Downs and Clark now have their eyes firmly set on international expansion. He says they are likely to begin
expanding next year, and the next few months will involve ensuring all of its “ducks are aligned”. He won’t reveal whether he is looking to set up Iglu’s own operation abroad or acquire existing firms, but says he is weighing up English-speaking markets farther afield against others closer to home. The combined Iglu businesses have
revenues in excess of £200 million, which Downs aims to double within five years.
IGLU CRUISE: BY NUMBERS
l Iglu’s cruise business was set up in 2006 with just six staff.
l It now employs 300, including more than 70 homeworkers based in countries such as Germany, Spain, Saint Lucia, Canada, France, Holland, Italy and Poland.
l The agency acquired Planet Cruise three years ago, which is also celebrating its 10th birthday this year.
l Iglu Cruise has sent more than 500,000 people cruising –almost enough to fill the Queen Mary 2 190 times over.
l The Iglu team has visited more than 100 ocean and river ships over the past decade.
Some of Iglu’s cruise team on a ship visit
32
travelweekly.co.uk 9 June 2016
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