Travel Associates‘ inaugural Luxury Cruise Event lured more than 500 keen-to-book cruisers to the Hyatt Regency Sydney last Sunday, with crowds amassing at the doors to the Grand Ballroom eagerly awaiting for the doors to open at 10am.
The Sydney event is the first in a series of dedicated luxury cruise shows Travel Associates is operating over the coming weeks, with other events planned for Newcastle, Gold Coast, Auckland, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide and Melbourne. The program builds on the success of Travel Associates’ Luxury Travel Event (hosted at the same venue in Sydney in April 2023), and the Luxury Travel & Cruise Event hosted on the Gold Coast in February.
Last year, Travel Associates hosted a series of Cruise Luncheons around the country with 15 cruise partners. This new format provides cruise partners with greater opportunity to connect with potential clients.
In Sydney on Sunday there were 20 luxury cruise partners present, including Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea, Explora Journeys, Crystal, Seabourn, Ponant, Oceania Cruises, Viking, Scenic, Virgin Voyages, AmaWaterways, Avalon, Uniworld, Celebrity Cruises, Tauck, Disney, HX Hurtigruten Expeditions, Aurora Expeditions, Lindblad Expeditions and Holland America Line.
Pre-registered guests paid $30 per person to attend the ticketed event, with that levy coming off the cost of a cruise booking made on the day.
Last month’s Travel Associates “big gem” activation over two days at Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal was also a key driver for the event series.
Speaking exclusively with LATTE at Sunday’s launch event, Danielle Galloway, Global Managing Director – Luxury & Independent, for Flight Centre Travel Group said part of the activation had been to target new-to-cruise clients to Travel Associates, and the strategy had delivered impressive results, with 80% of those registering either new-to-cruise or new to Flight Centre Travel Group as a whole. For this weekend’s upcoming event in Auckland the figure is a massive 95% new-to-brand registrants.
Galloway said there was a sizeable spike in terms of enquiries within a few days of the hard-to-miss activation.
Rachel Kingswell, General Manager of Travel Associates Australia and New Zealand said the brand’s social activity increased dramatically, along with enquiries following the harbour side activity.
“We noticed a peak in interest into our offices – via the web or phone. The ‘big gem’ activation definitely worked.
The Sydney event sold out very quickly, driven by a combination of social and traditional media, but primarily social,” she said.
Galloway said attendees were already inspired by cruise, but compared to the strong thirst to know more about cruising immediately after the pandemic, “now they are here to select and book… and that’s why there’s such a significant increase in the cruise market.”
She said that an important part as to why Travel Associates’ luxury cruise events have been successful is the qualification process of clients.
“Everybody understands what they are walking into at this event. It is about luxury cruise and we assemble a diverse depth and breadth of partners all in the one room. And our partners have the opportunity to showcase their experience and products through presentations throughout the day.
“Our qualification process ensures those 500 customers who are going to walk through the door on the day, are here ready to cruise,” Galloway said.
Part of that process includes a digital journey (an electronic mail out) in the days leading up to the show which educates pre-registered guests on the brands that will be represented and highlights the “cruise shopping experience” that will be available “to learn more and find the one that suits their needs,” Galloway said.
Kingswell said the digital journey adds further inspiration for the client who is already keen to cruise, so that when they arrive at the showcase they are ready to book. To cater for that increased booking demand, Travel Associates had a virtual army of consultants on hand at the Sydney event to process requests, then and there.
“We learned from our Gold Coast event that we needed a bigger booking lounge. That’s why we have in excess of 35 advisors here today,” Kingswell said.
LATTEobserved the Booking Lounge was one of the busier zones on the floor in the Grand Ballroom an hour into the show, with advisors securing the services of a travel advisor for the first time.
There were also added incentives for clients to book on the day, with those depositing on a new cruise reservation also receiving a Samonsite suitcase. There was also a chance to win a $2,000 Travel Associates Gift Voucher.
