Intrepid’s adventure cruising takes off
INTREPID Group’s adventure cruise program will be ramped up and enter into new markets in 2018/19, building on the success of a program endorsed by agents.
Managing director-turned-ceo, James Thornton said Peregrine’s small ship Adventure Cruising program had proven ripe for the picking for travellers who hadn’t considered themselves as traditional cruise customers.
Launched in Nov, the Adventure Cruising comprises 10 itineraries, based on “boats” with a maximum of 50 passengers, in destinations including Croatia, Greece, Spain, Iceland, Portugal and Cuba.
“We have been quite successful and surprised by the strength of the initial uptake,” Thornton told Cruise Weekly yesterday.
“I guess we pondered new areas post-TUI we could move into,” he said, referring to the split from the travel giant 20 months ago.
“Could we create a style of travel that delivers some of the benefits of cruising in terms of unpacking once, returning to your own cabin each night without having to change locations and waking in a new place each day?”
Due to its size, adventure cruises are able to obtain access to ports large cruise ships cannot reach, with disembarkation “quick and seamless”.
He said there was a gap in the market for genuine local experiences that benefit travellers and the people they visit, such as enabling pax to sample local food from local businesses, rather than on the ship itself.
“The boat isn’t the highlight, the destination is the highlight.”
Thornton had a dig at large ship operators and their impact on communities they visit.
“Arguably, it’s not the most sustainable way to get around and see a place.
“Two-thousand passengers suddenly arrive in a location and are in port one day and it’s often having a detrimental impact on certain places in the world.”
Thornton cited the situation in Venice which is “struggling to cope” with cruise ship demand.
He said Intrepid was keen to get a larger slice of the cruise market, building on its modest program to polar regions, the Galapagos and Croatia coastal cruising, available through Intrepid and Peregrine.
“For a number of years we did quite well... but this is a different style to which we’ve offered before under the Peregrine brand, with each cruise carbon-offset.
“The Australian travel trade has really gotten behind it and is supporting our ambitions.”
Expect to see Southeast Asia and Central America added to the program next year, he told CW.