Speaking at ECN’s Summer Soiree event on Tuesday (10 June), chief executive Akvile Marozaite told TTG it was not the trade body’s job to warn members about the dangers of discounting.

But she did reveal discounting had been discussed at recent ECN advisory board meetings, and conceded it would be difficult to hike prices after dropping them. 

Marozaite said: “There’s a bit of discounting going on. Expedition cruises should be expensive. It’s hard to crawl back from selling a £7,500 cruise for £3,500.” 

Asked if ECN had tried to warn supplier members about the dangers of discounting, Marozaite said: “We’re not here to police anything. We’re a community of travel trade members and suppliers. It’s not part of our mission to police anything."

However, she added: “It’s important we stick together on pricing – discounting is never any good for anyone.”

Marozaite said ECN tries to promote "the importance of booking early", adding she hoped this would help suppliers fill their ships so they "don’t need to resort to these tactics [discounting]".

Marozaite later explained how discounting sometimes draws in people for whom expedition cruising is not the right product, which could reduce lines’ repeat booking rates.

With more brands entering the expedition cruise market, Marozaite said there is a risk sales staff could focus their pitch on the widely understood luxury elements onboard rather than the unique expedition features to make a quicker sale.

"There’s a little bit of miscommunication going on. This is my personal opinion,” she explained. “Generally, expedition cruise takes a bit longer for the trade and customers to understand. As an industry, we’re still evolving.”

Marozaite believes the sector has “plateaued” after the “really disruptive” pandemic where cruise lines had to operate new hardware to try and balance the books.

Latest ECN survey data reveals more than a quarter of members (27%) believe the first half of 2025 has seen the UK grow faster than other markets, with nearly half (46%) reporting the UK is growing at the same rate as others. 

Around 95% of ECN’s 28 supplier members are positive about the next few years. Just shy of a third (31%) of members are experiencing strongest growth in the 46-55 age groups, with another third seeing strongest growth among 56–65-year-olds. 

Solo travellers, luxury seekers, and multi-generational family groups are other demographics experiencing growth.

“I think cruising as a way of travelling has been becoming popular for the last 10 to 15 years,” added Marozaite.

“We’ve got a group of young adults that have grown up with it as a concept. I definitely see younger demographics cruising.”