Cruising still booming
The cruise industry is soaring. Last financial year, during one of tourism's bleakest periods, 331,000 Australians went on a cruise - a staggering 26 per cent more than the previous year...
According to one of the major players in the cruise industry, it is feasible that within a decade more than 1 million Australians will go cruising each year.
"Australia is a relatively young market when it comes to cruising," says Ann Sherry, the chief executive officer of Carnival Australia, which has Seabourn, Princess, Costa, Cunard and the P&O cruise lines in its portfolio.
"At present, one per cent of Australians cruise compared to three per cent of Americans, a much more mature market. With a little bit more innovation we could go beyond that."
Sherry, who spoke at last week's Tourism Futures conference on the Gold Coast, says one reason cruising is flourishing while other travel sectors are floundering is that it is viewed as good value in tough times.
But the foundation of the industry's sustained success in Australia, which has seen the popularity of cruising grow 18 per cent annually in the past five years, is listening and reacting to consumer feedback, which differs with nationality.
The things that matter to Australians, according to Sherry, are ease, convenience, on-board experiences and destinations. "People literally want to catch a cab to a ship and have the holiday start straight away," she says.
One of the significant differences between the Australian and US cruise markets is that American consumers view the ship as a destination in itself but Australians value visiting ports - especially those that have played a role in Australian history, such as Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
Sherry says on-board entertainment has been ramped up in response to consumer demand, with the introduction on some cruises of boot camps, book clubs, barista lessons, vigneron talks, circus-skills lessons and comedy acts.
"On board, people want to feel as if they are doing something special that they couldn't do elsewhere, or things they wouldn't have time for during the rest of the year," she says.
Food, always a crucial element in the cruising mix, is another strong consideration. Sherry is flagging the possibility of speciality restaurants and more partnerships with well-known chefs.
For example, P&O's recent mini-gourmet cruises, featuring the produce of the Hunter Valley and the talents of chef Andrew Clarke of Pokolbin's Rock Restaurant, were so successful that similar cruises next year have already been announced.
Sherry says that while there will always be demand for longer cruises from baby boomers with time and money to spare and from families - one of the industry's fastest growing sectors - shorter cruises from three to 10 days are on the agenda for the next decade.
"The market is segmenting and we have to keep on responding to that to keep on growing," she says.
Source: www.theage.com.au