NEWS SPECIAL REPORT
Just weeks after unveiling extensive expansion plans, Crystal Cruises hosts its top agent partners from across the globe at an annual sales gala. Hollie-Rae Merrick reports from St Petersburg Crystal’s Edie Rodriguez (in
red) and Thomas Mazloum (centre) with crew and agents on Crystal Symphony
Crystal Cruises’ strategy makes UK its top market
Crystal Cruises claims moves to remodel its distribution strategy to broaden trade relations is paying off.
By establishing ties with more mainstream agents, Crystal has seen the UK become its biggest international source market, overtaking Australia, according to Philip Ordever, the two-ship line’s international sales and marketing vice-president. Ordever said the decision to “widen the net” was made before the line announced a major expansion plan, which includes taking on three ocean ships, two river vessels, a luxury yacht and an order for two luxury aircraft. Speaking on board Crystal
Symphony in St Petersburg, Ordever said: “In the past there was a 80:20 rule – 80% of your business comes from 20% of your partners – and we wanted to change that. I wanted to flatten the distribution and build stronger ties with those agents who we thought we could take to the next level. And we’ve done so – we’re probably more 70:30 now.
“We’ve taken on more mainstream agents, honing our skills to find the best way to market”
“We weren’t working with every
potential cruise agency that we could have been. Those online or telephone-based cruise agents, where we’d thought luxury wasn’t their forte, we’ve spent more time with and they have started to really prove their worth. “We are redistributing our
budget and we’ve analysed return on invest and cost of acquisition. Where it was too high and agents weren’t producing a return, we’ve stopped giving them the money and we’re giving it to others who have the bookings. “We’re honing our skills to find the best route to market. “Beforehand, more of our focus
was on independent agents, and what we perceived as luxury cruise specialists. We’ve kept those,
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but we’ve also taken on more mainstream agents.” Ordever said the line previously
hadn’t worked with agents selling premium cruise lines such as Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line or Princess Cruises, but was now encouraging agents to upsell clients to a Crystal cruise. Ordever said the changes had
had an impact, as demonstrated by the UK market rising above Australia to become the line’s second-biggest source market after North America and Canada. “When there was the recession in the UK, it didn’t hit Australia, and the UK fell as a result. Once the UK started to come back we’ve seen a resurgent market – the pound is strong against the euro and fairly stable against the US dollar, GDP is good and inflation is low – all the good things that give people confidence to spend. At the same time, Australia’s dollar weakened and their business went backwards slightly. The UK will continue to be number one for the rest of 2015 because it is far ahead of the Australian market.”
Rodriguez: I’m on a mission to move Crystal forward
Crystal Cruises is likely to announce further expansion plans in the next six months. President and chief
executive Edie Rodriguez told agents there was “much more to come” and insisted that all of the new brands – Crystal Luxury Air, Crystal Yacht Cruises and Crystal River Cruises – would see growth. “I’m on a mission to move
Crystal forward,” she said. “In the next six months we are likely to announce new things. There’s much more to come.” Thomas Mazloum, chief
operating officer, added: “Over the next five to eight years, the ocean product will remain our core. We will make sure we carefully listen and measure and see how the market is developing. “We will be watching trends,
so if we see there is more trends towards rivers, planes or yachting we will explore those further. We will launch all these brands and we will expand every single one of them; we won’t stay with one yacht or two river ships.”
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