Despite the sluggish and steady growth of the sector, cruise tourism still remains in its nascent stage in India. Of the ever increasing globetrotters of India, cruise travellers account for less than 2 per cent. Experts believe that the fastest way to grow is to have cruise ships of international standards positioned in India and have home ports developed within the country
Cruise: Trending
Cruise as a holiday option is gradually picking up in India and travellers have steadily started understanding the benefits of cruising. Amit Mathur, Country Head, MSC Cruises believes that a better connect with the consumer is required to educate them on the benefits, and more importantly, help them understand that cruising is not just being in water for seven to eight nights – it has a lot of excitement packed.
As one of the first entrants in this market, Royal Caribbean International, over the past two decades has seen a sizable growth in demand for cruise in relation to the absolute volume, preferred destinations as well as variance in the ship and category preferences of Indian travellers. Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive, Tirun Travel Marketing, which represents Royal Caribbean International in India, opined, “Indians are increasingly open to trying newer itineraries, seen by the growing demand for destinations such as Alaska, Scandinavia, South America and more, as well as explore longer sailings with options of more destinations whereby they optimise their time at every port.” She further added that, while initially the industry was driven primarily from the metro cities, today they see demand emerging from all corners of the country.
Overall, the cruise industry has seen a slow rise by 10 to 15 per cent on average, while the rest of the travel industry, especially travel to Europe, has received a setback due to uncertain market conditions, said Faisal Siddique, Director, Maison de Voyage (MDV), which represents Uniworld Boutique River Cruises in India. “There are a number of cruises which have entered the Indian Market in recent years. Now, that Indians have travelled extensively, and many are done with the usual ‘must do’ destinations, they are ready to try out cruises. Cruises are also family/child friendly which urges more people to opt for them,” he shared.
SOS: Challenges
According to Sidhartha Roy, Senior Vice President, Indian Tarvel Promotion Company & TRN Marketing, which represents AmaWaterways in India, the travel trade is yet to adopt cruising for its customers as a primary offering in their portfolio. “Globally, the total cruising population is about 20 mn and driven mainly by the North American markets. Of this, the Asian share is a mere 4 per cent; from India the cruise customer numbers has just about touched a 100,000. It is the trade channels that have to play a more positive role ‘by active counseling’ not ‘mere selling’. This needs more mature and trained effort. Instead of focusing on the price point only, the trade attention should shift to marketing content.
Echoing Roy’s sentiments, Mathur stated, “Our trade partners play an important role in distributing the products and its imperative that they are educated to sell cruising as a concept. The industry is seeing a slowdown and that has affected the business. At an estimated 100,000 travellers, we are still at a nascent stage though numbers are showing a gradual increase,” he said, and added that the growth is dependent on multiple factors such as connectivity to the sailing port, strength of Indian currency and an awareness of the benefits of cruising.
Elaborating on the challenges, Siddique said that there is a preconceived notion that cruising is for the rich or retired. “Cruising, especially, river cruising in India is perceived as luxury travel only the rich and famous can afford, which is not true because booking a cruise nine to 12 months in advance can avail more than 50 per cent discounts on cabin fare. However, as India is a late booking market it works adversely.”
India v/s international market
American/European markets naturally believe cruising is a grand way of holidaying. International vacationing itself is still very young in India if not exactly early days; even now 50 per cent of Indians go to the Far East. “One important reason is India, despite a 5,000 km of coastline, does not have the environment for domestic cruising options. The little that is there, firstly not of any set standard and secondly it is not pursued with some passion by the domestic or inbound operators. Hence, the onus of customer education has to shift to the trade,” Roy commented.
“With enough data and trends available in international markets, cruises are sold well in advance. Indians do not want to cruise for longer duration. Cruise liners are trying to build numbers by giving value for money packages to their clients,” Mathur opined. According to Chadha, India is unique in its diversity, culture and affluence, which is a high quotient therefore, the strategy is different in approach, communication and value v/s the rest of the world.
Popular Routes
MSC cruises dominate the Med region and northern Europe. Mathur said, “We are seeing enquiries coming in for our sailings in Miami, South Africa and UAE during the winter season.” For Ama Waterways, the Danube sailings are the most popular. “This route traverses the core of European history from the hanseatic period to the more recent events surrounding World War II. The cities touched are Budapest, Bratislava, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Karlovy Vary, Nuremberg etc,” informed Roy.
“The main itineraries which continue to be popular with the Indian audience include the Mediterranean (Average five/seven Night Eastern and Western Mediterranean), Alaska, Caribbean and Singapore. Demand is steadily increasing for destinations such as Australia/New Zealand, Scandinavia and Russia, Baltic, South America and more. With a portfolio of 34 ships across three brands, TIRUN is effectively geared to cater to any preference of the Indian traveller,” shared Chadha.
Siddique informed that the River Rhine and River Danube cruises are always asked and requested. These sailings also get sold out well in advance. “Our Danube Discovery & Prague, Legendary Rhine and Moselle and Castles along the Rhine itineraries are most popular as they cover Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic.” He said, adding, that their Far East destination covering countries such as Cambodia/ Vietnam are also in demand.
The Way Forward
While awareness is increasing, the effort is to monetise the mindset. The trade has begun to accept cruise as a viable product, though selectively. “Over the past two decades, we have successfully marketed the concept of cruise vacations via various mediums including direct marketing, print and electronic advertising, trade programs and more. We are constantly conceiving newer mediums and technologies as well as interesting campaigns to reach out to our consumer segments,” said Chadha.
Roy added that AmaWaterways push European sailings primarily on the Danube, the Rhine and the Seine in the Indian market. The reason being, cruises cover the best of European heritage. Mathur believes that B2B forms a critical part of their distribution network, “MSC will continue to support the channel partners through regular marketing to help connect to consumers directly and generate healthy leads,” he revealed.
Uniworld will also continue to participate in road shows. “We also regularly send out fliers to our database (consisting of agents as well as corporate and walk in guests) with attractive offers that they can avail. We have a dedicated sales team across India that goes out and promotes/talks about our product to agents in the industry,” he added.
