As the wave booking period takes off, Tom Parry hears how it’s been smooth sailing for specialist agents.
Cruise specialists have reported a “very encouraging” start to the wave booking period.
A mix of competitive deals from lines, already-established cruisers choosing to book earlier and capacity for 2020 itineraries readily available has boosted business, according to a number of leading agents.
Rachel Wright, owner and managing director of Cruise Select, told TTG her business had seen “a much brighter start” to wave than last year, with sales 47% up year-on-year in November and rising 25% in December.
“We’re finding that customers are booking earlier and earlier, so this year we sent out our magazine earlier to capitalise – it’s had a great response,” she said.
“We’ve had a nice little flurry [of bookings] coming in between Christmas and New Year, and the shop’s been full most days. Bookings-wise, it’s been a mixed bag with a lot of luxury in December as well as Christmas markets river cruises and some expedition too.”
Ponders Travel owner Clare Dudley also reported a strong December, describing it as “much busier than we were expecting”.
“Usually we tend to pick up most of our business later in January and in February, once the schools have gone back, so December has been very welcome,” she said.
Ponders opened its first retail store this week, with Dudley expecting the shop to drive more local sales throughout wave.
In Northern Ireland, Oasis Travel managing director Sandra Corkin said she was “delighted” with how her six-agency chain had performed so far.
“We’ve had a strong start with customers responding to the good campaigns, with the Med leading the way,” she said.
Phil Nuttall, chief executive of The Travel Village Group, which owns The Cruise Village and Rivercruising.co.uk, said he believed “early signs for wave are positive”. “I’m very encouraged,” he added.
Nuttall said cruise agents were currently “spinning two plates”, with efforts split between selling remaining 2019 ocean capacity, while also looking to 2020.
“We’re selling well ahead for next year and we want to keep that booking curve up, but it’s very important we get as much out of 2019 as we can.”
River cruise specialist James Hill of GoCruise said he had received “a clutch of new enquiries” before New Year’s Eve.
“I think it will just keep going now, as people are looking for 2020 and there’s good forward demand there,” he said.
Hill described how the key summer sailing months in Europe were “fairly heavily booked” with the Rhine and Rhone particularly well sold – pushing consumers to look ahead to next year already.
Further afield, he reported that demand for the Mekong is “holding up well”, with “big anniversary trips” unaffected by any financial concerns.
In Europe, he said sales of flight-inclusive river bookings were “looking strong” and, with the looming impact of Brexit, Hill explained he believed customers were opting for protected packages rather than arranging their own transport to meet river vessels.
“I’ve had a lot more people mentioning Brexit than last year, but it doesn’t seem to be deterring booking,” he added.
Scott Anderson, general manager of The Luxury Cruise Company, said it was hard to tell if Brexit would have an impact on the high-end market.
“It’s difficult to know, but Brexit could create a lates market once March has come and gone and things become clearer,” he predicted.
Anderson added there was a “real trend for long-haul”, with Asia proving particularly popular.
“Japan especially is going really well. We’ve also had a lot of new-to-cruise clients,” he said.