THE Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection (RCYC) has zeroed in to converting its hotel guests to cruisers, rather than poaching passengers from other lines, Senior Vice President Global Sales & Service Patrick Mitchell said.
The senior RCYC leader spoke at a recent lunch hosted by the cruise line, and attended exclusively by CW, revealing the brand’s abnormal guest sourcing.
Around 75% of RCYC guests come from Marriott International’s luxury hotel brands, while half of its passengers have never taken a cruise before.
As a result, RCYC’s message to advisors is to target their clients who stay at luxury hotel properties, Mitchell emphasised.
“We’re not here to try to convince you to move a guest from another luxury cruise line to Ritz-Carlton, we’re a different product, and our combined job is to help you understand how we’re different, and why that makes the difference for your guests,” he said.
“We’re less cruise line and more hotel…I think of us as Ritz-Carlton as a ‘hotel at sea’.
“Everything that we do is founded on the values of a Ritz-Carlton hotel.”
RCYC leaders also shared their plans for next year, and how they are continuing to gear up the recently opened Australian office (CW 20 Jun), which is planned to expand to as many as 12 employees next year.
This could include a marketing/PR/events staffer, as RCYC prepares to ramp up its events strategy in 2026. MS
Pictured are Mitchell with Alison Lord, Travel Associates Turramurra; Anastasia Kotanidis, RCYC Director of Travel Partnerships; Lisa Knight, Travel Associates Cronulla; Karl Tailby, Travel Associates Balgowlah; and Seb Seward, VP & GM.