Freedom’s arrival ‘hugely significant’ for travel trade

TravelMole guest comment: Robin Shaw, UK & Ireland managing director, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises

This is a truly historic event in the history of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines; Freedom of the Seas, the world’s most innovative and largest cruise ship, arrives in Southampton early on Saturday morning where she will be welcomed by over 5,000 important guests from throughout the UK cruise and travel industry.

In the midst of all the celebrations and excitement surrounding this weekend, it’s really important for us to remind ourselves that Freedom’s entry into service is hugely significant not only for cruising stalwarts, but also for travel agents and industry partners looking to deliver outstanding customer satisfaction.

Cruising is currently the fastest growing and most dynamic segment of the UK travel and leisure industry. To say that we are living in exciting times is truly an understatement. As each ‘state-of-the-art’ new ship enters service and more world firsts are broken, anyone not involved in the industry – for example, potential cruisers – could be forgiven for thinking that our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.

And how do the sales add up? Consumers are booking these experiences in their droves. Yes, the bigger ships are very expensive to build and develop, but what they deliver in terms of customer satisfaction, demand and awareness is worth it.

Every year we see more and more people ‘switch on’ to cruising. Why is this?

It’s not simply because there’re plenty of cruise options now available – although there are – it’s because people are finally understanding what a truly fantastic holiday a cruise can make. 

In these days of time-poor working families, cruising delivers at every level. There are more facilities than ever; who would have imagined a holiday resort boasting climbing walls, ice skating rinks and surf pools twenty years ago, let alone a cruise ship? Combine this with the reality of waking up in a different destination each day, and you start to understand more of the appeal.

And it’s not just about bigger ships, it’s more of these facilities and more space to enjoy them that potential cruisers want. Freedom tackles all the old clichés about cruises head on.

In the midst of the excitement of new and innovative ships, the industry is not without its challenges. As one of the most loyal to the trade sectors of the industry – Royal Caribbean is not alone in seeing over 90% of sales from the trade – news of commission cuts in some areas have to be reviewed.

There is no easy answer to the issue that any cruise operator must be competitive in the market place, not only against rival cruise brands, but also land-based holidays.

Plus, we are now increasingly aware of rising fuel costs and many operators are introducing relevant surcharges. But the cruise industry is not alone in this, and like industries such as the automotive, we respond with better designs and technological advancements to increase energy efficiency.

It is important to remember overall that the UK cruise industry is gunning for over 1.5 million cruisers by 2008. Cruise holidays currently account for just 1 in 20 of UK package holidays booked, a market share with the opportunity to grow. This means there will be yet more changes, but, on a positive note, it also shows that there is room for big, small, formal, family, traditional and new ships in this market in order to hold onto existing cruisers and recruit new ones.

Across a variety of lines, on all different types of ships, cruisers are very, very satisfied customers – let’s keep it that way.

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