Hearts must have sunk at Thomson Cruises when they saw the results of a survey among cruise customers published this week.
When over 3,000 cruise customers were asked by cruise.co.uk to associate brands with a high street name, Thomson’s cruise product was likened to budget retail chain Primark.
While its rivals were associated with the likes of John Lewis and Debenhams, Thomson was considered “mass market†like Primark.
NCL didn’t fare much better, described as the Tesco of the cruise industry by the users of the cruise community website.
But at least these brands enjoyed some level of consumer awareness.
According to the poll, cruise consumers knew little of the smaller niche players who have entered the cruise market such as Voyages of Discovery, Swan Hellenic, and Viking River Cruises.
Here’s what the customers said:
Celebrity Cruises John Lewis
Cunard Line John Lewis
Fred.Olsen Debenhams
NCL Tesco
P&O M&S
Princess Debenhams
Royal Caribbean Debenhams
Thomson Primark
Seamus Conlon, managing director of www.cruise.co.uk, said: “This latest survey, conducted with Travel Weekly, shows that whilst cruising is still perceived as elitist, many brands are now being associated with more mainstream names and products.
“Not surprisingly high street names like M&S and John Lewis featured but so did Primark and Tesco.”
* Do you agree with these customers views? Which high street names would you associate with these cruise brands?
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By Bev Fearis
