A new category of luxury travel lit up the stage during Arnie
Weissmann's interview with a panel of Carnival Corp. presidents at
CruiseWorld last Thursday, promising high-end customers something even
better than the African safari — and travel advisors an even better
revenue source.
Weissmann,
Travel Weekly's editor in chief, gave Seabourn's Josh Leibowitz the
lead-in with his comment that "expeditions are exploding," and Leibowitz
was off, describing what he sees as the future at the top of the luxury
scale.
A luxury category beyond safari
“We are building a whole new category here,” he said. “Our vision is
to enable Step Next experiences that are a category after safari. You
will see more species of wildlife on a 10- or 11-day exploration on
Seabourn Venture then on a safari, and you will do it in pure luxury.”
Seabourn’s “newest baby,” the Venture is designed to go literally
anywhere in the world. It will start in the Arctic, launching from Oslo,
Norway, with Zodiacs and submarines and a cinema-grade camera that can
find and track a polar bear in the wild and lead the ship to it.
Expedition trips are perfect for “clients that are ready for and only
want the best – it’s up to you to tell the story,” he said to the
travel advisors in the room. “I highly recommend that you learn this
category. It is a great earning opportunity, and the commission on one
of these sales is going to be enough to help you save for one yourself.”
Ocean Medallion is Princess’ jewel
Just a month into his new position as president of Princess Cruises,
meanwhile, John Padgett said he hopes the Ocean Medallion Class will
remain unique to Princess rather than spread to other brands. "I'm
hoping it stays a point of differentiation for us for some time; it
generates value for everyone. I can guarantee that if your client sails
Medallion class you will have a happy client."
It's
been so popular that it recently has been expanded to allow guests to
use Medallion Pay onshore in Cabo. As ever, Padgett said, the strategy
is to take the friction out of every encounter so guests can just enjoy
the experience.
Experience what you sell
And Holland America Line's Gus Antorcha made a good point about selling cruises right now.
"There
are a lot of people who are ready to go, and most land-based options
are full," he said. "You can hardly get room service in many hotels" —
while cruise ships are focused, as ever, on delivering the attention to
detail that makes customers feel special.
"If you want someone to believe what you believe, you need to get out
there yourself," he said to travel advisors. "There's no easier way to
sell. Get out there, and get your teams out there."
Source: Travel Weekly