I think honesty is important when selling, so it’s vital to acknowledge clients’ concerns and take time to explain to them the incredible work cruise lines have done with regard to virus protocols. Life has changed for us all in many respects and the majority of clients understand this. The cruise lines have worked tirelessly to find the right balance between protecting their guests and still making a cruise holiday an enjoyable experience. It's also worth highlighting the flexible booking policies in place if customers can’t travel. Our luxury cruise partners have done an excellent job in improving flexibility around rebooking, which provides further confidence to clients wanting to book now. In terms of who to target, spread the net wide. While initially it was mainly existing cruisers booking, we have recently seen an uptick in interest from new-to-cruise clients. Also, don’t limit it to certain itineraries; our world cruises have proven popular, with people keen to tick experiences off their bucket list. Travel, once again, is being seen as a privilege and not an inalienable right. The Mediterranean, Caribbean and Far East are all selling well. We’re seeing an excellent level of interest for 2021 bookings, especially so for the latter half of the year, by which time most of our clients expect mass vaccinations to have taken place.”
^
“USE THE FACTS AVAILABLE THROUGH CLIA AND HIGHLIGHT THE LINES’ PROTOCOLS” Shane Riley, associate vice-president of international sales at Virgin
^ Voyages, says:
Be confident when selling – for the past few months, like all cruise lines, we’ve been creating a new set of health measures so your customers can get back to those quiet, sun-on-their face moments out at sea. Even if clients don't ask, they are likely to be thinking about safety. Take the lead, use the facts available through Clia and highlight the cruise lines’ protocols. There are many useful guides available that clearly explain how each cruise line will take care of their guests. We've created tools our First Mates can use to reassure customers, including a 30-second video that explains what they can expect before, during and after the voyage. It’s also worth doing your research around flexible booking policies. We offer a book with confidence policy, allowing guests to amend their voyage or cancel and receive a 100% future voyage credit up to 48 hours before departure. Our partners at Voyage Store also offer flexibility on packages, allowing free date changes up to six weeks before departure on most packages.”
38 10 DECEMBER 2020
“BE HONEST AND ACKNOWLEDGE CLIENTS’ CONCERNS” Stefan Shillito, managing director of The Sovereign Cruise Club, says:
john fair, UK sales director, CroisiEurope experts experts ASK THE
“On the back of a safe return to river cruising from July to October 2020, CroisiEurope is planning a resumption in spring 2021 on all of Europe’s major rivers. We believe our now-proven health and safety protocols, along with valuable lessons learnt this summer, will enable us to provide cruising that is not only safe but still has our core values of service, great food, immersive itineraries and onboard comfort at its centre.”
lucia rowe, managing director, A-Rosa
“We are proud to have successfully operated river cruises for five months of the 2020 season with social distancing, enhanced cleaning, pre-screening and table service among the protocols. When the season starts in 2021, we will have all of these in place. However, with a vaccine becoming more realistic in the first half of next year, we hope we will soon be able to return to many elements of our usual concept.”
2022. I also think cruising will be more regionalised until 2022, with cruise lines positioning their ships for a local market – for example Italians, Spanish and French predominantly in the Med, with Southampton and its five cruise terminals heavily reliant on UK cruisers. In the longer term, the vaccination programme will be key; once the virus is under control, we will see a much more familiar cruise experience, albeit enhanced by new health and safety protocols. I think river will continue to be the growing force of the cruise industry for many years to come, and not just because it doesn’t fall under the no-travel position ocean cruise currently finds itself in; it’s a natural progression for many ocean-cruise guests, offering destinations ocean ships can’t reach, a slower pace of life and excellent food and wine.”
^
travelweekly.co.uk
“CRUISING WILL BE MORE REGIONALISED UNTIL 2022” Phil Nuttall, chief executive of The Travel Village Group, says: Cruising will resume slowly but surely. All the interest we are seeing for 2021 is for late summer onwards, and there will be more seven-day cruises until summer
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
