Australia-based Aurora Expeditions' fleet grew to three ships this month with the launch of the 154-passenger Douglas Mawson. With added capacity, the Antarctica specialist is broadening itineraries to nonexpedition destinations like the Mediterranean. Chief marketing officer Katie Malone, who joined Aurora in August after directing marketing at P&O Cruises, spoke with cruise editor Teri West about the line's growth.
Katie Malone
Q: How do you think having a third vessel reshapes the cruise line's strategy?
A: The business made a decision around five years ago to be like, "OK, are we just going to be Antarctica specialists or can we be more?" And the decision was made to be more. We had the Greg Mortimer that launched in 2019, which is named after the founder. Then we had the Sylvia Earle, named after the amazing marine biologist, join us in '23, and then Douglas Mawson ... in '25. Growing at that pace obviously brings with it challenges, so we've been really careful about keeping the ships to that small size.
Having the three ships has enabled us to expand what we can offer to customers, so we now go to all seven continents. It also enables us to get customers back more than once. If you're going to Antarctica, you're probably not going to go back again, so we've sort of developed our inventory to have three key experiences: You've got very hard, extreme nature at one end, which is Antarctica; then in the middle, you've got this mix of nature and culture, which is Costa Rica, Scotland. And then at the other end, you've got your small-ship cruise, which is really immersed in culture ... that we've been able to introduce. That might be a Mediterranean sailing; you're not going to be on a Zodiac.
Q: You did some initial small-ship-style itineraries this summer. What did you learn?
A: One thing that we learned was that we probably tried to make it too expedition-y. So we were like, "Right guys, we're up and we're off the ship." And I think tailoring it in the next season is, "OK, guys, we're getting straight off the ship, but we're going to go somewhere great, and then we're going to leave you there for a few hours so you can explore at your pace."
Q: Do you think folks will continue entering the brand through more extreme itineraries, then look to a more traditional one? Or could it happen the other way around?
A: With this initial season of small-ship cruise -- and we did have an older audience on small ship than Antarctica -- we actually found if you're 70 and you're going to travel from America to the Mediterranean to have this experience, you're pretty adventurous. We weren't expecting it so much, but we have found around 15% of that audience are like, "Yeah, I could do Antarctica."
Q: How do you see yourselves remaining competitive in an ever more crowded expedition cruise market?
A: If we look at our competitors, particularly in North America, they have much stronger brand awareness than we do. So that's a big opportunity for us, and scaling gives us an opportunity to grow that brand awareness -- growing it but not losing who you are.
Q: From a marketing perspective, how do you get that message across?
A: If you think of big cruise brands, which is where I've come from, it's like you've got your fishing boat and you've got a net behind you and you're just trawling through the ocean. You're going to get some consumers because you've got that net ... whereas we have a fishing line. It's hook, line and sinker, and we're getting the big fish, because we do have a high cost. So I think the marketing strategy is reaching the right person at the right time, a very bespoke approach to how we're going to find our customers.