Resorts World Cruises revolutionises cruise partnerships with 'RW CruiseBuddy'
On February 7, 2024, Resorts World Cruises launched its groundbreaking initiative in India, the RW CruiseBuddy web portal, exclusively tailored for its esteemed travel partners. Naresh Rawal, Vice President, Sales and Marketing (India), Resorts World Cruises, provided additional details on the portal and highlighted the fly-cruise developments for 2024.
A Revolutionary Platform
Resorts World Cruises’ ‘RW Cruise Buddy’ web portal (rwcruisebuddy. com) is an advanced technological platform exclusively designed for the Indian market. This innovative initiative empowers travel partners by granting them direct access to Resorts World Cruises’ real-time inventory and cruise fare information.
At the core of the RW CruiseBuddy web portal lies a robust marketing resource centre, which serves as a valuable repository of promotional materials and resources. Boasting a wealth of eye-catching visuals and compelling content, this platform enables travel partners to effortlessly access a diverse range of assets. From enhancing marketing efforts to fostering increased customer engagement, RW CruiseBuddy ensures that partners in India can efficiently leverage these resources.
During the launch, Naresh announced, “With the RW CruiseBuddy web portal now live, we encourage and look forward to more travel partners using the portal features, which will better serve and support them. The introduction of the RW CruiseBuddy portal marks a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to providing unparalleled support and resources to our travel partners. RW CruiseBuddy is set to redefine how we collaborate, ensuring mutual success in the dynamic world of cruise tourism.”
Salient Features
The RW CruiseBuddy web portal stands as an informative platform rather than a booking portal. Travel agents are still required to go through the PSAs for actual bookings. However, RW Cruise Buddy streamlines this process by granting agents direct access to both the PSAs and Resorts World Cruises’ marketing content within a
unified platform. Naresh explains, “We cater to approximately 8,000 travel partners across diverse geographies. The significant challenge arose when they needed quotations—having to individually approach multiple PSAs, often six or seven of them, and then wait for each quotation to be returned. Now, with this portal, we have streamlined the process, making it seamless for our partners. This consolidation not only facilitates smoother communication with PSAs but also provides a convenient hub for accessing marketing materials providing faster response time, further enhancing the efficiency of the process.”
In addition, a special reward point system is being introduced for travel partners via the RW CruiseBuddy web portal as a token of appreciation and to encourage higher usage among the trade. “The notable advantage lies in the incentive system accompanying each booking our partners make. These incentives are structured every quarter, allowing them to attain specific achievement tiers. As they reach these quarterly milestones, we reciprocate their efforts by rewarding them in various ways,” informs Naresh.
The Fly-Cruise Success
Resorts World Cruises has witnessed remarkable growth in the fly-cruise sector in India over the past two operational years. In line with its commitment to fostering the development of the local fly-cruise industry, the company is dedicated to strategic investments in resources that are both right and, more importantly, highly effective. “From a fly-cruise perspective, India stands out as one of the largest contributors, particularly in the MICE and family travel segments. The recent announcement of our itineraries for 2025 has generated robust and promising booking activity. As we navigate through 2024, the outlook appears exceedingly positive at this juncture.”
Resorts World Cruise Genting Dream is homeported in Singapore, and Resorts World One, in Hong Kong. On the Genting Dream, the new season itineraries from May 2024 until April 2025 offer more convenient timings for embarkation from Singapore three times a week to Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Phuket.
“Besides MICE, the fly-cruise sector from India has witnessed significant prominence in friends and family unions. Weddings emerged as a major highlight, capturing substantial attention. The celebration of birthdays and anniversaries experienced a consistent upward trajectory, evolving into grander affairs. The Genting Dream catered to all of it in 2023. However, despite the challenges that plagued the cruising industry during COVID-19, as being first to get affected and last to revive, cruising has not only made a comeback but has returned with tremendous vigour. As we delve further into 2024, the current trends suggest irreversible momentum for the travel industry, indicating a robust and sustained revival,” says Naresh.