| Changing tastes impact profits

Clients’ tastes appear to be
changing, and it’s having a
dramatic impact on the profits
of some cruise companies.
ONCE lucrative for cruise lines, pre/post
packages and shore excursions sold on board
are not the money-spinners they used to be,
according to respected industry figure Claudius
Docekal, in charge of deployment and
development for Azamara Club Cruises.
In an exclusive interview with Cruise Weekly
at the Seatrade Cruise Forum, held last week in
Hong Kong, Docekal said: “Firstly, the
traditional pre/post packages are losing their
appeal, primarily in the major ports such as
Singapore, because people can go easily on the
internet and select exactly the hotel they want
days before sailing and get a room for a much
cheaper price, than what the cruise line preselected
months before at a higher price.”
In Europe, pre/post packages “really aren’t
worth our time hardly anymore”, Docekal said.
The online availability of cheaper and more
personalised shore excursions, land tours and
airport transfers was a continuing issue,
especially if clients have “a competent travel
agent”.
He said this trend for clients to make their
own arrangements is increasingly impacting
cruise lines’ bottom line.
“The price of cruising has really dropped over
the last couple of years and it costs a lot of
money to operate a ship with fuel, port
charges and competition, so for the cruise lines
it’s necessary for them to supplement their
income with onboard revenue, so the sale of
shore excursions becomes very important and
I’d say, yes, the loss of tour participation is
definitely an issue for us.
“We’re seeing a lot of guests come on board,
they have a certain budget and they select to
spend it on a nice bottle or wine, or spend it
on a shore excursion – but they won’t do both,”
he said.
The types of shore excursion have also
changed, Docekal observed.
“In the old days, guests used to be satisfied
sitting on a bus for three hours to see an
attraction, take a picture and go back to the
ship.
“There are certain clients who are still
looking for this type of tour, but they are
getting fewer and fewer”.
Instead, most of today’s cruise passengers
want to be “hands on” and to mix with the
locals, he said.
“People want to interact with the
destination, to touch it, to smell it, feel it,” he
added.