First time cruisers stay high on P&O agenda

First time cruisers stay high on P&O agenda
By admin


The new to cruise market remains a firm focus for P&O Cruises as its 2015/16 schedule sees it expand into a range of new homeports and destinations in its most extensive Australasian program to date.

Almost a third of the program is made up of short break cruising, Tammy Marshall told Travel Today.

“That enables those new to cruise to try it without investing a lot of time,” she said.

The short break itineraries have the highest repeat rates, Marshall confirmed.

And with the cruise line homeporting from eight ports over the season, thanks to its expanded fleet of five ships, they are the ideal way to introduce new markets to its product.

The 2015/16 season will see P&O launch itineraries from Cairns and Singapore as well as its largest presence yet in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Fremantle, Adelaide and Auckland.

“With the addition of Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria, we now have the opportunity to bring cruising to new homeports and new customers,” Marshall said. “We’re bringing the ships to them, and obviously P&O is here year-round.”

The 250 cruises on offer include maiden itineraries and inaugural port visits to exotic destinations such as Honiara in the Solomon Islands, Jakarta in Indonesia, and Ko Chang in Thailand as well as local gems like Queensland’s Hamilton Island and Gladstone, Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula and Esperance in Western Australia.

The cruise line is confident the expanded program caters to “unmet demand”, reporting an “overwhelming” response from the trade since the announcement was made earlier this week.

The ports and state tourism organisations are also excited about having more capacity coming through, according to Marshall.

Meanwhile, she stressed that product innovation remains a priority for the cruise lines amid an increasingly competitive cruise landscape, with food of particular importance.

“You’ll see an expanded offer around the restaurants and experiences that we offer,” she revealed. “We’re making sure that we offer the right experience for the right customers.”

 

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