Agents selling expedition cruises make an average of £3,000 per booking, according to Silversea Cruises Managing Director UK & Ireland Peter Shanks.
Speaking at Advantage Travel Partnership’s annual Latitude cruise conference, held onboard Ambassador’s Ambience, Peter said: “Expedition cruises is reassuringly expensive and guest satisfaction ratings are a ‘joy to behold’.”
Peter told agents that adding expedition cruises to their portfolio could ‘make a very material difference’ to their business. “It is the ultimate bucket list travel experience, but my advice is to move it from the bucket list to the booking list.”
Expedition cruise lines have increased capacity by more than 100% over the past five years, and Advantage agents have seen a 77% rise in expedition cruise bookings year on year.
Peter warned that there are long lead times, with clients typically taking 10 years to convert from thinking about booking an expedition cruise to actually booking, and Silversea customers typically book two years in advance.
But he said the once agents get customers hooked on expedition cruises, they will come back for more. “They really do come back and repeat,” he said. “Selling expedition cruises positions you as an expert, you are telling people about new destinations.”
Peter advised agents to begin by selling just a couple of expedition destinations and he recommended starting with Antarctica and the Galapagos. “Everyone wants to go to Antarctica, it’s a life changing experience.”
For clients who want to cruise closer to home, Peter pointed out that you take an expedition cruise in northern Europe, including the Faroe Islands (pictured above) or even around the UK. “The choice of cruise lines really is fabulous.”
Customers who take classic ocean cruises aren’t likely to go for an expedition, said Peter. Instead, he said agents should target those who typically book luxury cruises or luxury land-based holidays. “You already know these travellers, they love going on an Audley Holiday to Sri Lanka, they love a fly and flop to the Maldives.”
Baby-boomers are the core market, but there are more Gen X and families going on expedition cruises, he said. “Most important for guests is the destinations, also the service, the wildlife and excursions; safety also rates highly.
“The heros of an expedition cruise are the expedition team members, who will be with your guests throughout the whole experience.”
Price is less of a selling point, said Peter, who urged agents not to open the discussion with the cost. “That is way down the list,” he added.
One Advantage member was so inspired by Peter that immediately after his talk she called a client who’d been thinking of booking a luxury cruise with her to encourage him to commit. You can read the full story here.