Booking trends for first-time cruisers

11 Apr 2018 2066 | World Travel News

While first-time cruisers respond well to up-selling by agents when it comes to cabin types, they seem to be more less willing to put down bookings for flight and cruise packages despite showing interest in fly-cruise products, a study by the Traveltek Group shows.

The study analyses 8,878 new-to-cruise enquiries made through agents worldwide in 2017, and further compares these to quotations and bookings made through Traveltek’s CRM platform.

The study also reveals that a large portion of enquires were for two adults, and the cruise market needs to attract other demographics by being more flexible

Even though fly-cruise represented a significant 26 per cent of all first-time cruiser enquiries, the number dropped to just nine per cent of travel agency quotes, suggesting bookers were reticent to package the flight and airline components together.

On the other hand, first-time cruisers have no preconception of favourite cabin or the types available, presenting savvy agents with opportunities to use their product knowledge to upsell. While thirty-two per cent enquired about inside cabins, quotes for that cabin type declined to 26 per cent, while quotes for cabins with balconies increased to 29 per cent (up from 27 per cent at point of enquiry).