A new survey from Traveltek Group Ltd. provided insights into first-time cruisers and their perceptions of the industry.
The analysis looked at 8,878 new-to-cruise inquiries made through leading travel agents worldwide.
Results revealed how Traveltek's cruise packaging, CRM and API tools, and more, can help agencies and cruise lines leverage growth opportunities in their first-time cruise markets.
Traveltek broke out its research findings into different segments:
Fly Cruise
Fly-cruise represented 26 percent of all first-time cruiser inquiries. One of the more interesting results of the research found that cruisers didn't want to bundle air into the price-just 9 percent resulted in bookings that bundled air and cruise components together.
Solo Travelers and Families
These are two lucrative but underrepresented segments.
Eighty-one percent of inquiries and quotes were for two adults, reflecting how the cruise market should find ways to attract other demographics such as solo travelers and families by offering more flexible cabin pricing and configurations.
River Cruising
River cruising is a good entry point for cruise travel. The segment is starting to appeal to first-time cruise passengers.
Traveltek's research suggests that travel agents who have the ability to dynamically package river cruises will have an advantage as demand soars.
Africa
One of the most sought-after destinations is cruises to Africa. It was sixth in the list of top destinations for first-time cruiser inquiries. Adding Africa to product lines will boost agents ability to sell clients on a cruise, says Traveltek.
Cabins
First-time cruisers are not as familiar with product offerings onboard, including cabins, which presents travel agents with an opportunity to upsell cruises to the right clients using their product knowledge.
Traveltek also noted that its technology gives agents an advantage when it comes to booking.
Using its next-generation CruiseNX platform, which was launched last year, enables agents to book multiple cabins in one booking journey, making it easier to book a cruise for a family. It also has powerful filter options by price, cabin type, cruise line benefits and other criteria including destinations, such as Africa.
"Our global survey demonstrates how Traveltek is uniquely positioned to track the behavior of first-time cruisers, identifying top trends that can help agents and cruise lines in the Americas capitalize on the potential of this lucrative market and convert more inquiries to bookings," said Francis Riley, senior vice president sales, Traveltek Group Ltd.
"It also proves that the technology is now available to curate the cruise products and packages that first-timer cruisers want, making it simpler than ever before for them to purchase fly-cruise, family cruises, river cruises and alternative destinations and itineraries," he added.
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