| CCL to focus on Fiji for Spirit

Carnival Cruise Lines is
calling on the industry to
push destinations, more
than the ships, to lure firsttime
cruisers.
THE KEY TO FILLING AUSTRALIA’S EXPLODING
capacity is to promote the quality of shore
experiences to ‘cruise rookies’, according to
Jennifer Vandekreeke, Carnival Cruise Line’s
Australia-based director.
“Cruise rookies think of destination first, so
if we want to get more people cruising, we
need to focus on what happens on land,” she
said.
“As an industry, our job is increasing
consumers’ consideration for cruising, so we
need to get them past that first hurdle by
showing them they can have an authentic
experience on a shore excursion.”
Speaking to Cr Cruise uise W Weekl eekl eekly on a media
famil in Fiji yesterday, Vandekreeke said CCL
intended to heavily promote the tours offered
by Carnival Spirit, which starts sailing full-time
from Sydney in October 2012.
“We’re pushing Fiji a little bit more because
it’s such a hot destination at the moment, so
for people thinking of going there, they can
cruise with us and get Fiji, New Caledonia
and Vanuatu too,” she said.
“Consumers sometimes think an excursion
will be sanitised, but the experiences are real
and they can connect with the local people
and see their culture – more than if they
stayed in a resort.”
Vandekreeke urged travel agents to
endorse “the shore experience” to clients.
“People who go on shore excursions have
a better time, so if agents want their clients
coming back to them, make sure they book
shore excursions.”
“Explain to them what it is really like, and
that operators that service the cruise group
usually put a kicker in – something extra for
all the guests.”
Meanwhile, Vandekreeke said sales for
Spirit, which opened in May, are “going
really well, considering we haven’t gone out
to consumers yet – we’re on the curve we
expected to be on.”
CCL expects bookings to pick up around
Oct – a year ahead of the ship’s local launch.
For details, see www.myccs.com.au.