An upswing in late bookings driven by resilient cruisers has helped specialist cruise agencies turn the tide on Omicron uncertainty as the industry entered the January “wave” sales period.
The fast-spreading variant triggered a raft of cruise cancellations in December and even sparked a warning against sailing from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a combination of which threatened to push the sector’s busiest booking month off course.
But in the ensuing weeks, agency bosses have painted a more positive picture to TTG as they look to build on a solid start to the year.
“We’ve seen a significant improvement,” said Alison Earnshaw, UK managing director of Cruise118, Six Star Cruises and River Voyages parent World Travel Holdings.
“I wouldn’t say it’s quite the spike a traditional January would be, and we’re probably looking at a flatter bookings curve but over a longer time this year. But there’s significantly more interest now [than pre-Christmas], and that has been building throughout January.”
According to Earnshaw, search traffic, new enquiries and booking volumes were “all moving in the right direction week-on-week”.
Edwina Lonsdale, managing director of Mundy Cruising, said despite slow pre-Christmas sales, customers “were still feeling upbeat”, with her agency seeing much higher demand in early January than normal.
“Historically, it takes a week or two for things to get going, but there’s been demand right from the start,” she said.
Both Earnshaw and Lonsdale credit greater resilience in certain parts of their customer base for an upswing in last-minute bookings.
“There’s definitely a portion of the market that’s now more confident and less cautious. They’ve missed holidays in 2020 and 2021, and they’re not going to miss another,” said Earnshaw. “We’re seeing a steady number of customers wanting to go in the very short-term – next month or the month after.”
Lonsdale reported a similar trend. “Traditionally, we’re not late bookers,” she said. “But about 60% of what we’ve booked is for this year – we’re seeing that confidence coming back. People feel like they’re in a position to start planning ahead again.”
Cruise Nation owner Phil Evans said his agency was also benefiting from last-minute demand, citing the Caribbean as a particularly strong performer.
Despite the challenges of dealing with cancelled itineraries and rescheduled bookings, Evans praised the flexible policies put in place by cruise lines in helping ease customers’ nerves.
Assessing the summer, Evans said Cruise Nation was seeing “very strong” ex-UK demand for April and May, with the Mediterranean proving stronger towards the back end of the season in September and October.
TRADING UP
Mundy’s bookings too have “a strong bias” towards the Med and European rivers, according to Lonsdale, with Earnshaw agreeing that the perceived “safer options” of ex-UK, Europe and the Caribbean were proving “the big winners” when it came to sales volumes.
Interest in longer-haul itineraries and “bucket list” options were also proving popular for 2023 and 2024, they said. Lonsdale reported Mundy’s focus on South America and Antarctica was “really paying off”, although she added there was “still a lack of confidence” in when Australia would open.
Evans said he had decided not to promote Asia and Australia for 2022, explaining: “I think it’s too big a risk and I think customers know that.”
Earnshaw said different types of bucket lists had seen clients “trading up” their cruise length, cabin type or choosing ultra-luxury options. “Bucket list isn’t just destination-driven,” she stressed.
At the time of writing in late January, Evans said Cruise Nation was ramping up its marketing after waiting until later in the month to kick-start promotions, and was already seeing 170% week-on-week growth.
“We’re not talking 2019 levels yet, but we’re not far off,” he said. “We’re within touching distance of those figures, and that’s great because it gives us hope and confidence.”
