CONFERENCE REPORT how the sector has grown in a challenging market. Harry Kemble reports from Amsterdam
Fox tips ‘Neo’ consumers as perfect fit for luxury cruise
A
Giles Hawke, Avalon Waterways; Matthias Lutter, A-Rosa; and Ben Wirz, Uniworld
Kristin Karst, AmaWaterways
new “less materialistic, more experiential” river cruise customer who is willing to spend more on luxury holidays is on the rise in the UK, according to APT’s chief
commercial officer, Debra Fox. Fox said these consumers want the “path less travelled”
and to be able to “brag” about their holiday experiences to friends, she told the Clia River Cruise Conference. Referencing a new consumer classification that
categorises people as either Neos (next economic order) or Traditionals (traditional economic order), Fox said despite Neos making up only 25% of the UK population, they accounted for 60% of all discretionary spend. “Last year, the Neo overtook the Traditional in the
amount of money they spent on discretionary experiential things – wine, travel and food,” she said. Fox urged agents: “Don’t talk [to customers] about the
price, talk about the experience. Talk to Traditionals about the price. Tey want it safe and conservative. Te rise of luxury is the rise of Neo.” Following Fox’s decision to allow television cameras
on to an APT vessel to film Australian reality show Travel Guides earlier this year, she said: “You have got to be disruptive if you want to change people’s beliefs. [Te APT river cruise experience] scored five out five and it was the only holiday type to have ever achieved that.
‘Go for cake, not the crumbs’
Crystal River Cruises’ boss has implored agents to focus on new clients instead of repeat customers. Walter Litlejohn, the line’s vice-president and
managing director, said: “When we think about repeat customers, we are going to keep marketing to them and selling them the same destinations. “[But] you do not want to go for the crumbs, you want to go for the whole cake – people who have not been on a river cruise before.” Litlejohn urged agents
Walter Littlejohn, Crystal
to focus on river cruise while the sector was still “in its infancy”.
“We did not do that for APT, we did that on behalf of the
[river cruise] industry, because together we can be beter.” APT had seen that once a customer tried a river cruise
for the first time they would likely sail three more times in their life on average, Fox added. Fox also warned brands to think carefully about the
benefit of celebrity partnerships: “I am not a big fan of slapping a celebrity on and thinking it will sell. It doesn’t.” However, Fox described APT’s partnerships with
two celebrity chefs, Luke Nguyen and John Torode, as “perfect” fits for the brand.
Perl tips river sector to top 250,000 passengers
Te UK river cruise industry is “on track” to surpass the 250,000 passenger mark in 2019. Agents were set the challenge to help the
sector surpass that figure by AmaWaterways’ UK boss Stuart Perl at last year’s Clia River Cruise Conference. UK and Irish river cruise passenger numbers grew by 10.4% in 2018 to 232,300. Speaking at this year’s
conference, Perl said despite Brexit and the demise of Tomas Cook, the river sector was “resilient”. “We continue to create
sales growth as well as invest in new ships and new
travelweekly.co.uk
itineraries,” Perl said. “I believe we are on track to make that magical 250,000 number happen.” But Perl said he had no figures to support
his prediction and encouraged agents to make late bookings for winter voyages, Christmas markets sailings and long-haul destinations. Debra Fox, APT’s chief commercial
Stuart Perl, AmaWaterways
officer, admited demand for European river cruising had waned this year amid continuing uncertainty over Brexit. However, she said the line had seen an upturn in European cruise sales in the last six weeks. She also added that
Britons were sailing on the Mekong “in their droves”.
14 NOVEMBER 2019 15
Debra Fox, APT
Caption for the pic
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