| Avalon avoids all-inclusive pricing

While other river cruise lines
move toward fares including
drinks, tours and transfers,
Avalon Waterways has other ideas.
FLEXIBILITY and lower prices are more
important factors for travellers, according to
Christian Schweitzer, marketing manager
Australasia, Avalon Waterways.
“All-inclusive pricing needs a rethink and is
likely to fall out of favour,” he told CW.
“People don’t want to pay for things they
won’t use.
“They’d prefer a wider choice of options
among their excursions and activities, and the
ability to pay only for the options they want,”
he added.
Schweitzer’s comments follow rival operator
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises’
announcement last week that it would
become all-inclusive in 2014 (CW, 15 January),
while Australia’s APT and Scenic Tours will
make the switch this year.
“Avalon has opted to do a number of things
differently,” Schweitzer said.
“You still get wine and beer with lunch and
dinner, but not alcohol all day, because in our
experience, clients don’t necessarily want that.
“So rather than build that cost into the price,
we offer a drinks package, which people can
pre-purchase online after booking,” he added.
Avalon has also decided to keep transfers and
some shore excursions optional.
The end result, he said, is cheaper fares.
“We’ve found that clients don’t want to do
all excursions every day, sometimes they want
to wander off on their own,” he said.
“And as many Australians don’t come to
Europe just for a river cruise, they won’t
always come straight from the airport, so we
sell transfers separately at a very reasonable
$50,” he added.
Avalon recently introduced the ability for
consumers to pre-pay for options online.
“By being flexible, this presents a better
value proposition,” Schweitzer said.
Avalon’s river cruises are “often several
thousand dollars lower per couple than the
two other major river cruise operators”, he
claimed, but declined to name the companies.