Cruiseco confident of surge

AMBITIONS remain high at Cruiseco, with the consortium confident it can double its business over the next five years despite a shift in strategy seeing it move away from full ship charters.

Speaking with Travel Daily at its 2020 conference taking place this week aboard Voyager of the Seas, Cruiseco Chief Executive Officer Nic Cola said the consortium was primed for growth.

“The market will undoubtedly grow and we want Cruiseco members to grow faster than the market rate and there isn’t any reason we can’t double our members’ business within five years,” he said.

Cola informed attendees earlier on stage that Cruiseco had generated 23,000 passengers last year, of which 6,200 passengers were booked on the renowned music cruises with yields increasing by 20%.

The Cruiseco chief also said that the consortium had held over 1,400 groups in the past year with between 30% to 35% of all cruise bookings in the market generated via Cruiseco members.

Despite this success, Cola spoke of the rationale behind the departure in full ship charters, saying “when we were doing the full ship charters several years ago the market didn’t have many ships coming down, we had itineraries that were very unique and sold out very quickly.

“When you look at it now, those unique itineraries have become hard to find.

“So we’ve taken the decision there’s unlikely to be a need, unless we can find something that’s new, unique that will fulfil consumers requirements.

“We’ll continue to focus on our themed cruises and groups,” he told Travel Daily.

The Cruiseco conference continues today in Hobart.