The cruise industry is decidedly on the upswing following the pandemic, according to recent data from Phocuswright Inc., a part of Northstar Travel Group, as well as Cruise Planners and the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA). And travel advisors are playing a key part in its current and future success following this year’s wave season.
With cruise travel figures strong, the segment’s potential sales growth continues to be enormous. Here’s a look at some of the latest data.
American Society of Travel Advisors
Since last year, there has been a 40% jump in the number of travelers planning a cruise, according to recently released data from ASTA. The consumer research survey asked what types of vacations respondents were planning.
Cruise Planners
During a recent town hall meeting, Cruise Planners reported that the franchise network’s sales are 73% ahead of where they were in 2022, and almost half of weekly reservations are being made for 2024 departures — ensuring demand remains high through next year.
“What a year it’s been so far, and I mean that in the best possible way,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and founder of Cruise Planners. “It has been heartwarming to see our advisors going full speed ahead, and it doesn’t look like they’re stopping anytime soon. We couldn’t have asked for a better start to 2023.”
What’s more, the network has seen a 20% uptick in the number of franchises that will be inducted into its Millionaires Club Member tier (those with $1 million-plus in total sales volume), and 50% more are set to join the club in 2024.
U.S. Cruise Market Report 2022-2026
Last year, gross bookings rose substantially — more than 500% year over year, according to Phocuswright’s U.S. Cruise Market Report 2022-2026. Although this number comes from a much-diminished base, it encourages agents to stretch their reach for future sales.
In fact, travel advisors are projected to account for close to 70% of overall cruise reservations by 2024, and that percentage is expected to be even higher in 2026.
“While some financial concerns remain and may grow, this has not quelled consumers’ interest in sailing, and cruise lines continue to expand and modernize their fleets,” according to the report.
By next year, projected reservations are anticipated to approach 2019 gross booking levels. And leading into this year’s wave season, advisor bookings have seen week-over-week growth since September 2022.
In 2022, the share of gross cruise bookings made by travel advisors dropped to 59% (compared to 70% in 2019) but is projected to recover to 71% by 2026.
The Takeaway
As has been the case for decades, cruise travel remains a relatively small segment. Grouped with airline, hotel, car rental, traditional vacation packages, rail and other travel, cruise made up just 3% of total gross bookings and overall share in 2022, according to the U.S. Cruise Market Report.
But Suzy Schreiner, owner and travel specialist for Azure Blue Vacations, says she always finds the “revelations” from varying industry reports to be interesting — and perhaps not quite reflect the reality of travel advisor life.
“Most advisors I know, myself included, have more than 50% of our bookings made up of cruising of some sort (ocean, river, yachting) in various degrees — luxury, traditional, exploration."
According to Schreiner, cruising actually makes up a substantial amount of clients’ travel interests; in her experience, a smaller percentage of advisors focus primarily on all-inclusives and land vacations. She believes corporate numbers might skew hotels and rental cars higher.
“If they are simply calculating percentages based on leisure travel alone, I would imagine the percentages to be a bit different,” she said.
