TravelManagers is targeting an 18% expansion in cruise sales this year, tabbing it as one of three key sectors for growth.
Leckey believes the room for growth in expedition is crucial to realising TravelManagers’ “audacious” target.
“We’re really getting into expedition…that’s a huge growth area for us…that’s opened up a whole new client base,” the TravelManagers cruise head said.
“They’re not traditionally cruise passengers, they’re often guests who’ve done a safari… an expedition is often the only solution to get to places like Galapagos or the Poles.
“Even though those ships are smaller, there’s a huge opportunity there…we’ve done quite a lot of training around that,” he added.
Leckey said TravelManagers has been working with its expedition cruise partners to help bring the sector to life for its PTMs, and help them feel comfortable selling the sector.
“We’ve got pretty big goals, but I’m confident we can get there with the commitment we’ve got within the organisation to learning and development.”
“[In terms of] technology…we’ve got to make the booking process easier for the PTMs, and then in our product area, making sure we’ve got the right deals and the right packages in market.”
Particularly valuable for advisors is the higher per diem involved in an expedition.
River cruisers are also proving to be a fruitful source of expedition passengers, Leckey said.
“The amount of river cruise passengers that are on an expedition, but they’d never considered an ocean cruise…I’m not sure that’s an area most agents would think would cross over,” he said.
“If you look at river cruise, it’s very inclusive, it includes all your shore excursions, usually your drinks with dinner, that it’s very similar to expedition.”
