If you’re still among the travel advisors who say “I don’t sell cruise,” you might want to reconsider. The growing cadre of luxury cruise ships sailing to exotic and adventure-filled destinations offers new options for existing customers and lures for a new generation of young travelers—and above all, it can serve as a gateway to the lucrative expedition travel market.
That was just one interesting takeaway from one of my favorite trips so far this season, an Embark Beyond fam trip to Alaska on the new Silversea Nova that had a unique angle: Onboard were five top-selling luxury travel advisors who had never sold a cruise—or even sailed on one.
(For the story of the fam trip, see Silver Nova sailing inspires Embark advisors to be cruise sellers: Travel Weekly).
Perhaps most important, though, says Silversea director of expedition sales Tim Amm, expedition cruising is a product customers love.
“No matter how far we go or how much we see, expedition cruising expands our minds and our souls to the incredible planet we live on,” he says. “From the client’s perspective, it isn’t possible to put together the combination of destinations in any other way. It introduces clients to new products in one of the most comfortable ways to travel, getting onboard and unpacking once and having everything move with them. And from the perspective of the travel advisor, expedition travel typically has a higher per diem because of its inherently all-inclusive nature,” running about 60% more than a typical cruise.
The expedition space is booming, Amm said, up more than 300% in the past 15 years, from 32,000 guests in 2008 to 108,000 this year, and growing in the past year alone by the size of the entire market in 2008. Silversea’s fly-one-way option has helped make Antarctica “one of the most successful destinations for us—but most importantly from a trade perspective, it’s opened a massive new market for clients who want to get to Antarctica and back in less than 10 days. And that’s opened up a huge new demographic to businessmen and family groups.”
Alaska cruisers, as well as river cruisers, and especially Galapagos cruisers, are the kind of adventure travelers who might also one day want an expedition, he noted. “Broadly, the perfect customer has the mindset of an inquisitive, well-educated, 55+ traveler with a family income of $200,000 or more and $1 million in assets.” About one-third of Galapagos cruisers on Silver Origin book the Arctic or Antarctic within two years.
The only cruise line that offers a one-way flight to Antarctica, and the only one with a dedicated ship through the entire season, Silversea is aiming to be best in class as both a luxury product and an expedition product.
Area sales director Bob Tolster, meanwhile, noted that an expedition cruise in Antarctica is like “a safari at sea,” going out for morning and afternoon game drives and coming back to an incredible lodge,” with zodiacs as the game drive vehicles. Clients who love one will love the other too.
Fam’ing leads to sales, travel advisors say
The travel advisors on the Alaska fam, meanwhile, all agreed that there is nothing like testing a product out to make you want to sell it—and to give you the details that help close the business. Our amazing experiences on Silver Nova’s maiden voyage to Alaska, from mountain biking through the ice to hiking and sport fishing, gave the first-time cruisers and the old pros a glimpse into the intersection of luxury and expedition travel they now hope to share with clients.
Luxury travel advisor Amy Warren of Park City, UT, just got a client request for Alaska or Hawaii for next summer—and plans to suggest Silversea Galapagos instead. Malley Goodwin got a call from a client asking specifically for an Alaska cruise, and suggested Silversea Nova, thinking the cigar lounge would help her close the sale. And it did.
Three years after becoming a travel advisor, first-time cruiser Shinny Bickoff of Manhattan recommended a cruise for the first time—to a client looking for a super-last-minute post-retirement celebration. After sailing herself, Bickoff thought a cruise would “add another dimension to her Europe trip” even though cruising was not on the client’s radar. The client “is on a Danube River cruise right now and having a great time,” she says.
Tier Lynn, founder of luxury travel agency Matri, says her experience on Silver Nova “highlighted the value in being able to explore a new destination each day while maintaining the relaxing nature of laying your head on the same pillow for the duration of the trip. Luxury cruising allows clients to maximize the distance traveled and destinations visited without sacrificing comfort and relaxation.” She already sees one customer on the horizon for sure; after bringing her mother along on the Alaska fam, “my mom is already begging me to take her on a Galapagos trip with Silversea.”
And, she notes, a Galapagos cruise is the perfect way to introduce a client to expedition cruising; “it allows them to stick their big toe in. And for the record, Silversea Galapagos was the most educational experience I’ve ever had.”
At Embark Beyond, partner Anne Scully “100% agrees” with the concept of selling an adventure cruise as a gateway to expedition cruising—and with the idea that letting advisors try out a cruise for themselves will bring in sales. “Seventy percent of the world is covered by water, so you have to get on the water to really see it,” she says. “A cruise really is a land-based vacation; just the vehicle is different.”
Beyond experiencing the luxury of a ship like Silver Nova, “if you get 10% commission on selling a hotel and 16%-18% on selling a cruise, you can give yourself a raise selling something the client enjoys more. After clients have been to Europe multiple times, they are looking for a different experience—something new, or a different way to view it or enjoy it. And a river cruise down the Seine or an expedition to Antarctica may be just what they are looking for.”
Cheryl’s 40-year career in journalism is bookended by roles in the travel industry, including Executive Editor of Business Travel News in the 1990s, and recently, Editor in Chief of Travel Market Report and admin of Cheryl Rosen’s Group for Travel Professionals, a news and support group on Facebook. As an independent contractor since retiring from the 9-to-5 to travel more, she has written regular articles about the life and business of travel agents for Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent, and Insider Travel Report. She also writes and edits for professional publications in the financial services, business, and technology sectors.
