Company insight
Meeting expectations on expedition cruises
Education, adventure and environmental sensitivity are all part of a successful expedition cruise, but the challenges of providing a satisfying experience in remote destinations are significant. We speak to Dietmar Wertanzl, president and CEO of CMI Leisure Management, about how to satisfy the surge of interest in the industry’s most exciting niche.
pandemic, eagerness from passengers is at an all-time high and the pre-pandemic explosion of interest in expedition cruises and the experiences they offer has not receded at all.
A “The expedition sector is growing very
quickly,” says Dietmar Wertanzl, president and CEO of CMI Leisure Management. “Ten years ago, it was slow going. It was a niche segment with mainly older and smaller ships that had been converted, but now there has been a total shift. Luxury brands like Silversea Cruises and Seabourn are active in this sector now, the number of destinations has grown, and it is now a well-established part of the cruise market.” Based in Florida, CMI – Leisure Management is a hotel concessionaire for ship operators that specialises in small ship expedition cruising. The company delivers turnkey hotel management and hospitality services designed to ensure expedition and boutique cruise lines deliver a superior product in the most cost-effective manner possible. Among its key clients are American Queen Voyages, Aurora Expeditions, Vantage Deluxe Word Travel and Albatros Expeditions. “We have six ships operating now and travel restrictions continue to open up around the world,” remarks Wertanzl. “My buzzword is ‘ocean safari’, which means taking people to destinations that are off the beaten track to see whales, penguins, glaciers and all kinds of unusual things.”
“On a safari in Africa you would get in a Jeep and go out into the wilderness, and we use Zodiacs in the same way,” he adds. “The segment is always driven by destinations, but the level of comfort has improved. People want good service and good food. That said, we won’t have theme parks like on big cruise ships.
s the industry reawakens after an enforced period of inactivity brought on by the Covid-19
You have to go and look for the wildlife and that is the adventure. There must always be adventure and excitement in an ocean safari.”
A key part of any expedition cruise is education. Experts in marine life and ecology provide this on any ocean safari. “People go to learn about the destination and the environment and the wildlife,” he remarks. “We need expedition leaders who can explain everything, so the challenge is finding and retaining the right people. They must have the knowledge and be able to make it exciting.”
“For us at CMI – Leisure Management, we also have to be able to manage the logistics, which is a real challenge,” he adds. “Getting good food in Antarctica is not easy, so you have to go for ten days with no ports to buy anything. The only port is Ushuaia, at the tip of Argentina, which is the southernmost city in the world, and the challenge there is limited supply. Everything needs to be brought with you on the ship.”
Sustainability where it counts Whether it is Antarctica, Greenland or any other destination, sustainability is a top priority. New-build expedition ships will
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have advanced wastewater treatment and lower emissions, but on-board services also must be geared towards minimising environmental impact.
“[For] Antarctica, for example, which is still the top expedition destination, we limit the number of people on one landing to 100, which helps to protect marine wildlife,” Wertanzl remarks. “It is suitable for small ship cruising only, so the vessels are like boutique hotels, though at a higher price point because it is a once-in-a- lifetime cruise destination.” “We have to watch how we manage waste, so we reduce, recycle and reuse as much as possible,” he adds. “This needs to be a community effort, so we need the support of local communities. There are no more single-use plastics on our vessels, and we are reducing packaging on the portioned foods and reducing our use of laundry chemicals. All of our clients want to be more sustainable.”
All these aspects make expedition cruising a challenging sector to exploit, but the interest will no doubt see it boom further in the years to come. ●
www.cmi-leisure.com 43
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