IN FOCUS
DARREN BIEN, head of sales and commercial at Designer Travel, leads
the homeworking agency’s cruise education programme, Cruise Designers.
Silver Endeavour
as Lindblad Expeditions are also planning to increase trade investment. The line – whose founder Lars-Eric Lindblad led the first tourist expedition to Antarctica in 1966 – has 15 expedition ships and works in partnership with National Geographic. “More than 90% of our business is US, but there are huge opportunities internationally and my plans are to target the UK, Canadian and Australian markets,” says senior vice-president of global sales John Delaney. “There’s a real appetite for expedition in the UK market and it offers a brilliant opportunity for us. The UK is blinking on my radar screen. Initially my strategy will be to work with six or seven agencies that we’ll hand pick. Then I really want to start building our brand name and brand recognition in the UK market.”
A bright future So what does the future hold for the sector? “Expedition cruise lines are focused on sustainability, both technologically but also in terms of education and support for destinations, so we’ll see a rise in citizen
science, local investment programmes and high-level engagement with indigenous people,” says Lonsdale. Tour operator Abercrombie & Kent
believes voyages to destinations outside the polar regions will continue to gain traction. “While polar and specifically Antarctica remain the most popular destinations, currently our cultural expedition cruises are performing well,” says chief tour operating officer Kerry Golds. “UK bookings for cultural expedition cruises to destinations such as Japan, Indonesia and the Baltics are up 250% for 2023 v 2022.” And the best bit? Luxury expedition
cruise looks set to entice a wave of new-to- cruise clients. According to Lonsdale, 65% of the agency’s expedition guests are “new to Mundy” as opposed to 21% of classic cruisers. Seabourn’s vice-president of global sales Steve Smotrys paints a similarly rosy picture, claiming Seabourn Venture is already attracting new-to-line guests and “opening up a new audience”. All in all, there has never been a better time to tap into luxury expedition cruise.
“Expedition cruising represents about 8% of our overall cruise sales [compared to zero before Cruise Designers launched in April]. We want to increase that to 12% next year. We’ve been able to switch-sell customers who have maybe always wanted to do something like South America, but also love to cruise. My focus was getting our team to learn more about it.
“Our average expedition cruise is £10,800 per passenger – it’s not something you can sell on Facebook. The biggest thing I’d say is you have to be passionate about it. You’ve got to treat it differently. A lot of people think of expedition as just another cruise but it’s totally not. You’re selling them a luxury experience rather than a cruise. “Everybody is now more conscious of sustainability and this is a great way to have a holiday but know that you’re giving something back – that is going to help with the growth of this sector.”
60
ASPIRE DECEMBER 2022
aspiretravelclub.co.uk
CREDITS: SILVERSEA CRUISES; SEABOURN
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