With an emphasis on growth, CLIA expects to see more than 28 million ocean passengers in 2018 and to see the UK, as the second biggest cruising market in Europe and fourth in the world, exceed more than two million.
The figures were announced during the 12th annual CLIA Cruise conference which took place in Southampton last week.
Cindy D?Aoust, as president and CEO of the association, was well placed to comment on the future projection of the cruise industry. Addressing travel agents directly D?Aoust said: ?You represent the profile of the Cruise Generation - younger people; people that are very comfortable on social media and who grew up in the environment of sharing. That means you should be better positioned for success than almost any other region in the world - you have a lot of opportunities and a lot of potential for growth.?
Looking to the next generation of cruisers, D?Aoust highlighted that younger people will often prioritise unique experiences and, though they may not have as much a disposable income, are willing to invest more in them ? good news for an industry that offers the options and the variety of experiences that cruising does.
D?Aoust further advised if cruising is propositioned as something that requires a lot of advance planning, agents run the risk of turning clients off or even selecting another holiday option altogether; therefore it can be beneficial not only to focus on the experiences that can be enjoyed but to also position cruise as something that can be spontaneous.
The new generation of potential cruisers are also very adventurous (but safety remains a high priority) and sharing is their local currency, often turning to their communities on social media for recommendations. D?Aoust suggested: ?Share that way with your new customers - they want people that can speak to them in their own language and use that medium to share recommendations from others to support the options that you're suggesting.?
?Whilst new generations like to have lots of options available to them, it?s easy to have too many. Your role is to make the selection process really easy and the way to make that effective is by knowing who they are, why they?re travelling and understanding what their lifestyle preferences are so that when you do make recommendations, the ones you make reflect what you know about them. You are the profile so use that to your advantage.?
