‘Advise clients of cultural differences if sailing in Asia’


Agents need to ensure their clients are aware of the cultural differences they might encounter on ocean cruises in Asia, Clia Australasia’s training chief warned. Peter Kollar said customers


From left: Andy Harmer, Clia; Lucy Huxley, Travel Weekly; Debra Fox, APT; and chef Luke Nguyen, APT ambassador


Hawke tells Asia attendees: There’s a huge opportunity


Agents who attended Clia UK’s river cruise and destination forum in Ho Chi Minh City will be able to steal a march on their competitors, the boss of Avalon Waterways told the conference.


Giles Hawke, who is also deputy chair of Clia UK, said the number of Britons choosing to cruise in Asia is growing exponentially but it is still a hidden gem. “You have invested time and


money to be here and will be the experts over those who didn’t come,” he said. Just under 9,000 Britons took


a river cruise in Asia in 2016, up 20% on the 7,400 figure of 2015, according to Clia. Of those, 4,100 cruised the


Mekong in Vietnam and Cambodia, 2,000 sailed on the Irrawaddy in Myanmar, while the Yangtze in China and Ganges in India accounted for 1,800 and 1,000 respectively. Hawke said: “There is clearly a


massive opportunity.” RiverCruising.co.uk managing


director Phil Nuttall said it cost an average £1,500 to attend the conference but it delivered £3,000


9,000


UK cruise passengers in Asia in 2016


worth of experience. He added: “Those who didn’t come missed a trick.” Debra Fox, chief commercial


officer at APT Travel Group, said river cruising in Asia “is all about getting your hands dirty”. She said: “Your clients are


Hawke: ‘You’ll be the experts’


baby boomers looking for luxury, which is not just about the ships but also about getting access to personal experiences.”


Clia heads for Manchester and Norwich


Clia is to hold events for agents in Manchester and Norwich to showcase the luxury cruise and river cruise sectors. The cruise trade association made the announcement at its first Asia River Cruise and Destination Forum last week. About 70 places will be available at each event. Details of venues,


programmes and how to secure a place will be revealed shortly. Clia UK and Ireland director Andy Harmer said the events would


be “the perfect opportunity” to highlight the “breadth of cruise options” in the industry’s river and luxury sectors. Harmer said: “We are delighted to be bringing these events to UK travel agents in September this year.”


Peter Kollar


19 April 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 15


could find themselves on a ship with 99% Chinese passengers, so language and different attitudes to personal space could be an issue. Although the forum was


focused on river cruising, Kollar, Clia Australasia’s head of international training and development, said agents needed to be aware of the sales opportunities in Asia’s growing ocean cruise market. He said growth had been “unbelievable”, with some 66 ships sailing in the region this year, accounting for about 11% of global capacity, compared with “fewer than in Alaska” as recently as 2014. A lot of the new tonnage


was designed for the Chinese market, but as that had not performed as expected, vessels had been relocated to southeast Asia and opened to passengers worldwide. Kollar said it was good news


for agents as it gave them more itineraries to sell, but they had to manage clients’ expectations. He added: “I’m not saying it is a negative to sail with other cultures, but it is different, and clients need to be aware of it.”


PICTURES: CRAIG FORSYTH


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