Helloworld’s massive cruise month

HELLOWORLD Travel’s ocean cruise sales last month were worth over $32 million, more than double the figure for Sep 2019, with the strong result attributed largely to the success of the Princess Cruises’ 107day round-the-world voyage departing Sydney in May 2022 which went on sale at the start of Sep (CW 04 Sep).

The result was a bright spot in an otherwise bleak 2020 for Helloworld’s cruise sales, which were down 80% overall for the period May-Aug, according to an update issued this morning.

Helloworld said ongoing cruise cancellations and the very limited amount of available product for future bookings had heavily impacted sales, but highlighted the huge Sep result as evidence of the “extraordinary pent up demand for travel, for cruise travel, for international travel and for travel with Princess”.

Just over a quarter of those who made bookings with Princess via Helloworld during the month were redeeming future cruise credit as a result of cancelled voyages in 2020 and 2021, while 74% were “new bookings with new customers,” the firm said.

Interestingly, the figures (pictured) indicate sales were already being impacted as far back as Jan, where sales were only about half of the same month in 2019.

The decline has continued across the year, down to a low of 16% of prior-year bookings in Jul.

After the bumper Sep, Helloworld’s cruise sales this month again slumped to about a third of levels in Oct 2019.

The Helloworld update said the company was optimistic that “travel bubbles” would be established with countries such as Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea during 2021, but doesn’t expect long-haul travel to Europe or the United States to resume with any material volume until late 2021 or early 2022.