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Cruise discounting ‘biggest concern’ for agents
Saturday, 21 Sep, 2009
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Discounting in the cruise sector remains the single biggest area of concern to travel agents, according to a senior director of Advantage.
The consortium’s leisure director Julia Lo Bue-Said made the point as part of a cruise session which opened the Advantage annual conference at Heathrow.
She called on cruise lines to play a bigger part in discouraging price cuts, while conceding that they were unable to prevent discounting altogether.
Lo Bue-Said pinpointed cruise specialist agents as the biggest culprits for offering discounted cruises.
But Carnival UK sales and customer services director Giles Hawke made it clear that price competition would never disappear in a free market.
“We live in a competitive world. People will choose to pick the margins they want to earn,” he said, while admitting that agents who provide the biggest volume of sales receive the best deals from cruise lines.
He called on agents to help rein in discounting by not offering price reductions to customers who don’t even ask for them.
Hawke said that when he carries out agency mystery shopping exercise, 80% offer a discount that is not asked for.
Lo Bue-Said urged more members to get involved in selling cruises as the business plays a “pivotal part” in the consortium’s proposition to consumers.
Advantage is the UK’s second largest cruise retailer representing £55 million in revenue a year and achieving average agency commission of 14%.
“Cruising can be lucrative but it is not an easy market for new entrants,” she added, stressing that agents needed to add value to the cruise sale.
by Phil Davies
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