MedCruise members need to become ‘marketeers’ in order to face competition challenges

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 20 October 2015 20 October 2015

Frances Gannon reports from Olbia.

Members of MedCruise, the organisation that promotes the Mediterranean as cruise destination, need to become “marketeers” in order to face competition and to match changing expectations of passengers, speakers said at a conference arranged by the organisation.

Kyriakos Anastassiadis, CEO of Celestyal Cruises posed the question "Do you market yourself as a destination: individually or regionally? The Med should really be the best destination for cruise and we need to start clustering and working with itineraries, we need to educate itinerary planners, we need to become ‘marketeers’!"

Anastassiadis, who gave an invigorating presentation at the 47th MedCruise General Assembly that took place last week in Olbia in Sardinia, stated: “For business to grow in the Med we need to do things differently.” Acknowledging Celestyal as a smaller operator than other cruise companies in the Mediterranean region, which is their bread and butter, he pointed out challenges arising from political events in the region.

Celestyal has had to face moving from destinations in the southern part of the Mediterranean, while it is going through a crisis, and focus on the northern part instead. He also stated 15% of their passengers are students with a wide spectrum of clientele including very affluent clients from 60 to 70 nationalities. Anastassiadis pointed out that Med Cruise members need to be more informed on what each particular cruise line is selling.

He posed the question: "How can ports help to make the cruise industry grow?" He continued by answering: "One thing ports need to consider – do you provide a good experience for cruise guests?" He also questioned why is the Turkish market not being included when discussing target markets considering the population is almost 77 million.

Carla Salvado, MedCruise President provided statistics indicating the strong continuous growth trend enjoyed in the Mediterranean for many years has now stabilised for the past three years.

Dr. Raphael von Heereman, Secretary General & CEO CLIA Europe advised travel agents are still an integral part of the industry with 70% of bookings being done through travel agents.

CLIA Europe and MedCruise are in the process of launching a joint venture by setting up an online training tool to educate and certify travel agents. Herema stated: ‘They need to be better informed which leads to better informed potential cruise guests.”

The first phase of the training tool will be launched in November 2015 and will be available in French to French Travel agents. He hopes the next launch to be available by April next year to the Spanish market.

Dustin Nason, Director, Worldwide Port Operations, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) stated that expectations of cruise guests have changed, mentioning their need for fast broadband, observing guests are multi generational and want ‘a unique experience – cruise guests want an experience of a lifetime’. He mentioned that Royal Caribbean satisfaction rates highly at 8.4 out of 10 for culture in the Mediterranean.

RCCL group have 16 ships in the region and it remains of strategic importance, particularly for the group’s premium market Celebrity Cruises brand. He did however mention some external threats: growing demand for cruises in the Caribbean and entry of Cuba as a cruise destination plus decisions to redeploy capacity to Asia. However he stated at the end of the day “Yield is King,” but he also mentioned outlook for Mediterranean is strong and a key strategy for the group brands is extended seasons in the region.

Bruce Krumrine, Vice-President Shore Operations Europe & Exotics, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn stated: "Mass market tourism is gone, guests are looking for more meaningful travel."

He discussed the top ten shore excursion travel trends noting there is still a growth in traditional source market: North America and the UK and more nationalities travelling than ever before with rapid growth of the Chinese market.

Other trends include small group tours and multi generational family travel. "What does this mean for MedCruise and its members," he asked, suggesting an answer: "Continued growth, new marketing and promotions opportunities for new products and services."