p10-11 elite oct24 22/10/08 20:19 Page 11
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conference report news
Elite conference
CRUISE. UK PASSENGERS.
Consortium cruise club
‘Cruise coming
to ‘beat the discounting’
home to UK’
CRUISING is “coming home”
to the UK, as focus shifts
from America with the rapid
ELITE is to launch a cruise club to help its mem- retailers as they would be offering, through the growth in UK passengers
bers compete with discounting in the sector. club, competitively priced fixed rates for numbers, said Andy Harmer.
About 20 members are already set to join the “groups” of cabins across up to a dozen lines. UK passenger figures are
club, which is due to launch on November 28. The price of these groups will be fixed at forecast to reach two mil-
Bob Lines, cruise director for Elite, said he hoped the rate of the first booking, while one in 16 lion by 2012 fuelled by first- Harmer: potential
the potential for additional revenue and loyal passengers will also be able to travel free. time cruisers, and Harmer,
customers would encourage more to sign up. The club will be free to join and agents will business development director of the Association
“Some 84% of cruise is sold by the retail have the chance to join the Association of Cruise of Cruise Experts, said the potential was huge as
sector, such as cruise specialists and cruise Experts for £40 instead of £120. only 3% of UK households had taken a cruise.
clubs, with only 16% going direct to cruise Lines said: “The club is going to be a forum “Cruise is coming home and the centre of
firms. I don’t know anywhere else you can go in with like-minded people who want to sell cruise. cruising is very much focused on the UK,” he said.
the industry and get such support,” he said. It is the biggest growth sector and agents need “You just have to look at the ship launches of
Lines said agents who joined would not need to get on board. With the number of ships being the last 12 months, most of which were UK-based:
to get involved in a discounting war with other launched, there will be lots of deals next year.” Balmoral, Independence and Carnival Splendor.”
INTERNET.
‘Polish up online’
AGENTS should take simple steps to promote
their businesses online or be left behind by the
market, delegates were told.
Search engine marketing expert Charles Reid,
director at Media Vest, said Thomas Cook had
predicted 35% of its bookings will be online soon,
while the industry as a whole could be 40%.
He said basic tactics such as having a site map
and naming pictures would let Google pick up on
QUIDS OUT: Elite directors Peter Buckell, Nigel Armitage, Sally Carrick and Bob Grinsell key words within a site and boost its unpaid-for
gave away £2,000 to Guy Widman, of Journey The World, who won a Directors’ Den search rating. Social networking sites and blogs
contest at the Elite event. His idea was a loyalty scheme for customers who refer friends. were other simple online tools, Reid added.
PACKAGE HOLIDAYS.
Elite Conference 2009
Cosmos predicts package revival
■ Elite’s 2009 conference will take place on
a five-night cruise on Royal Caribbean’s
COSMOS predicted a renaissance of the package have a massive opportunity to directionally sell. Navigator of the Seas, setting sail on
holiday market, as it “reinvents” itself for cus- Just as they want reassurance, customers want November 4, 2009, and cruising between
tomers seeking security and value for money. you to book them with financially safe companies. Malaga, Tenerife and Madeira. Elite
Tony Byrne, head of trade relations at Cosmos, “The package holiday isn’t dead; it’s reinvented claimed it would be the first independent
said there was a big opportunity as consumers itself and is going to become more fashionable. consortium to hold a conference on a
choose to return to agents for guidance in the “With the closure of XL, customers want cruise ship and said it had managed
wake of XL and other failures. reassurance and they get that with a package to beat three other consortia to secure
Speaking at the conference, Byrne said: “Cus- holiday for the fact that there’s a rep there and Navigator of the Seas for next year.
tomers will be looking for guidance, so agents that it’s all pre-booked.”
24.10.2008 11
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