If there’s one thing we know about Australian Travel Agents in the year 2018, it’s that they are ALL OVER the booming cruise sector & they definitely don’t need to be told how to sell it.
However, with an ever-growing industry comes constant change, which creates new opportunities to learn and make money.
For example, do you know which members of the Australian public will make you big cruise commission?
If you answered yes, then congratulations boo boo ? you’re a super star ?.
For the rest, we turn to Cruise Lines International Association’s (CLIA) latest Cruise Industry Source Market Report, which found the most profitable clients are the matured ones.
According to the report released this week, the older market is keen to take “longer and expensive fly-cruise holidays”, which can start from $5,000 and work their way up to $20,000 and beyond.
What exactly do we mean by ‘older’ and where are they ‘fly-cruising’ to?
Well, the average age increased to the 60s for passengers venturing on longer cruises to Northern Europe, Alaska, the Galapagos, Iceland and the Polar Regions as well as on Transatlantic and world cruises.
Australians aged 67 years and over spent 16.9 days on an Antarctica/Arctic/Galapagos/Iceland cruise in 2017, while Aussies 64 years spent 19.6 days on Transatlantic/World Cruises.
In Alaska, Australians aged 61 years booked an average of 7.2 days at sea, while those 63 years and over were spending 11.5 days sailing around Northern Europe & the Baltics.
Mid-life clients are also spending a fair bit on cruising, with those 55 years and over enjoying 11.3 days travelling around New Zealand, while those 44 years and spending 7.3 days cruising around the Caribbean.
So there you have it, find yourself some older clients to make that crazy cruise commission.
CLIA’s 2017 report also revealed that 5.7 percent of the Australian population is now cruising thanks to a 56,000 increase in Aussies cruisers last year compared to the prior year.
The average cruise length for the Australian market sits at around 9.1 days, down from 9.4 in 2016 and the average age of the ocean cruise passenger is 49.
NSW remained the biggest source of cruise passengers in 2017, accounting for 53.5 per cent of all cruisers, followed by Queensland (21.3 percent), Melbourne (12.8 percent), Western Australia (5.7 percent) and South Australia (4.5 percent).
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