ADVERTISING spend by the cruise industry has skyrocketed in Jul according to the latest statistics from Standard Media Index (SMI). The travel subcategory of Ocean Cruising rose 48% YOY and was one of the major contributors to the Travel category increasing 10.4% for the same period. The results come at...
ADVERTISING spend by the cruise industry has skyrocketed in Jul according to the latest statistics from Standard Media Index (SMI).
The travel subcategory of Ocean Cruising rose 48% YOY and was one of the major contributors to the Travel category increasing 10.4% for the same period.
The results come at a time when Australia is in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, although inflation is finally softening with the Reserve Bank of Australia deciding to hold interest rates yesterday at its monthly meeting.
Chris Walton, Managing Director of Nunn Media, which holds the media account for Silversea Cruises, explained a “significant focus for the cruise segment in Australia” is the affluent retiree, with this demographic partly responsible for the substantial advertising spend.
“Brands at the luxury end of the market including Viking, Silversea, Scenic and Ponant typically have customers with an average age well into their 60s,” he told CW.
“This cohort, with mortgages largely paid off, are to a large extent insulated from any cost-of-living crisis and have money to spend,” Walton added.
“In the wake of COVID there remains an insatiable appetite amongst older, affluent Australians to travel, and to travel in style.”
SMI Managing Director and co-founder APAC Jane Ractliffe told CW the Travel category has so far grown ad spend 18% this year, as it continues to recover from the COVID downturn.
Advertising spend overall was down -1.3% YOY in Jul, from a record result in the prior corresponding period.
Airlines also helped the Travel category rise with a 20.4% spend increase YOY.
The largest spending subcategory within Travel so far this year has been the Domestic Tourism Agency market, with SMI figures showing its spend has decreased 15% YOY, after it registered significant extra bookings last year to promote local travel post-COVID.
SMI accesses actual spend from media buying groups and uses the data to report on the advertising spend statistics across media categories as well as industry sectors. DF
