FORT LAUDERDALE — Want to sell a luxury cruise product? Don't assume that your client isn't in the market for a luxury cruise — or even thinks of themselves as a "luxury" traveler.
That was one takeaway from the annual Think Tank session at CruiseWorld here. The session was sponsored by Scenic Cruises and Emerald Waterways, an upscale small-ship and river cruise supplier that's eager to convince consumers — and their travel advisors — that a yacht-style product isn't out of their reach.
Scenic Group president Ken Muskat talked about breaking into the yacht-cruise market at Cruiseworld's Think Tank session. Photo Credit: Generikal Designs
Scenic Group president Ken Muskat kicked off the session by talking to advisors about how to break into the yacht-cruise market: Be a client educator; harness AI tools; tap into travel trends like bleisure and wellness; and look for travelers in their 40s, 50s and 60s who have "refined" tastes in travel.
He was joined by Claire Maguire, the owner of Island Girl Travel and Vacations, a Cruise Planners franchise and a top producer with Scenic and Emerald who booked a 38-person group within just a few weeks — primarily by promoting the Scenic product through her social media and getting clients hooked on the imagery.
Just don't call her clients luxury travelers.
"I think if you told my clients they were luxury clients, they would be terrified," she said. "They'd immediately think, 'I don't have $20,000 to go on a trip,' and I think they would be intimidated. My group, I can honestly say, there wasn't one ... who had been on a luxury ship or luxury vacation at that point. And it just opened up people's minds to the fact that they could do it."
She suggested that advisors create group blocks a couple of years into the future to take advantage of favorable group rates and to give people time to save or to warm up to the cost.
Muskat also tackled a misperception that luxury cruising is synonymous with a formal, stuffy, overdressed atmosphere. "For our brands and there are other brands out there, it's very comfortable; it's the complete opposite."
"I think a mindset shift is a huge key," Maguire added. "Stop telling yourself, I don't have those kinds of clients, I'll never get into that category. It is accessible. Educate yourself; there are amazing resources, all the brands have amazing resources now.
She added, "but don't limit yourself to who is a 'luxury client.'"
Don't assume what a client's budget is
A hallmark of the CruiseWorld Think Tank session is audience participation, and when moderators Catherine Brask and Ruthanne Terrero opened the floor to comments and questions, other advisors shared their experiences with the so-called luxury demographic.
Alan Feuerman, a Dream Vacations advisor, said that travel sellers don't always know which clients have money and which don't. "And if they don't have the money, sometimes [a travel opportunity is] valuable enough to them that they'll get the money to do something that will change their life."
Michelle Waldman of On Pointe Travel, said she was working on a 200-person group booking that came to her via an acquaintance she met while getting scuba certified 10 years ago and who had seen her posts on social media. "Consistency works," she said. "Talking about what you do works."
As one advisor in the audience pointed out: Don't sell based on your own perception of budget or expense.
Finally, Muskat and Maguire urged advisors to take advantage of suppliers' business development managers.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this report gave an incorrect spelling of Scenic and Emerald president Ken Muskat's name.