| Cruising towards Social Media

Social Media has arrived – and we can’t
ignore it anymore.
First it was via websites, then Facebook,
and now it’s all about Twitter.
This month I’ve been exploring at length
its capabilities towards the cruise retail
market, trying to understand its potentiality
towards increasing business opportunities.
Travel Daily’s successful symposium two
weeks ago on the future of travel agents
featured Kim McKay, from Klick
Communications, who so rightly defined
social media as about creating a community;
its management doesn’t necessarily have to
be used for tangible profit.
I felt that some in the audience were
confusing the term ‘technology’ (the threat
of new booking platforms taking business
volume) with ‘social media’.
But both are not potentially “evil” to our
future; the two have different business
strengths.
Like Kim, since studying the Social Media
phenomena, my verdict is that its best use
is about creating a community; a community
of followers, fans, advocates, a community
of belonging. Sending constant deals
doesn’t seem to have the same engagement.
Cruising has a major advantage in social
media – it is by far the strongest sector in
the travel industry with a natural
community affiliation.
Everyone who has cruised feels like they
belong in a special ‘club’, and good cruise
specialists have the opportunity to build
that feeling of belonging towards their own
business – creating a fan base.
I have found social media easy,
manageable (via platforms), and most of
all, engaging when used correctly.
Cruise industry businesses now have the
potential to explode with social community
usage.
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