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APT’s CEO David Cox on the tour company’s plan to be the leader in luxury travel

Karryon sat down with APT’s CEO, David Cox to talk about the Melbourne tour company's plans to be the leading operator in luxury group travel.

Karryon sat down with APT’s CEO, David Cox to talk about the Melbourne tour company’s plans to be the leading operator in luxury group travel.

APT recently launched a new rebrand for the luxury arm of the business, with a new monogram, but behind that symbol is, as CEO, David Cox explains, years of work to make sure it’s the best in the business when it comes to luxury group travel.

“We sat down during the pandemic and reset our strategy of where we want to be placed and we want to raise the luxury level of offerings for APT. Luxury means different things to different people, so we said we want to be seen as the leaders in luxury group travel.

“We are doing a lot to move us there… we have now invested in inventory, with two new ultra-luxury river ships launching this year … and they are going to be the signature to lead the way for luxury for us. They are our visual cue for what we will offer Australian luxury travellers.”

APT's new luxury river ships
One of APT’s new luxury river ships, Budapest.

Along with promising an elevated level of service onboard with seven dining options, Cox says they’ve already curated experiences to meet the ever-growing needs of Australian luxury travellers.

“We’ve created an experience in Vienna that’s at a boutique venue and it’s around 90 minutes of opera, and we made sure it’s high quality, but fast-paced and interesting, so we’ve honed in on what Australian luxury travellers want, which is not three hours sitting listening to opera.

“Everyone wants something local to the area they are visiting, but it’s nice to dip in and then come back to luxury, so you can’t have too much of transfers and an eight-hour day.

“The luxury traveller is more demanding and more informed, and they are saying if I’m away for a week or two, I want to do three or four special things and there are other times I want to take it easy and enjoy the luxury and that’s the mix in the product that we’re building around. They are more educated and smart, and it’s doing it in a way that’s not mass tourism.”

Luxury at a new level onboard APT's new river ships
Luxury at a new level onboard APT’s new river ships

The APT difference

Cox says they are not just listening to the Australian luxury traveller, they are acting on that research.

“We are making a lot of promises, and the luxury customer knows if you are going the extra mile or not, and it all comes down to having the best service.

“The great news for us is that around the world when you are trying to recruit, people want to work with Australians, so the fact our customers are Australians means they come to us. That’s gold. We can’t sell that.”

APT's CEO, David Cox in front of APT's new luxury travel monogram
APT’s CEO, David Cox, in front of APT’s new luxury travel monogram

New markets and tours

Cox says Egypt is “a key area of interest for APT Travel Group, with exciting new growth opportunities on the horizon”.

“We’re already leaders in the number of places we cover geographically, but we’re always looking around the world at where Australian customers might like to go, and it’s finding the next place, and Egypt is on the drawing board at the moment.”

He says APT is also looking at offering a bigger range of small-group touring.

 “That’s to reach destinations you can only get to in a small group. And there will be new product there for around 25 people.”

He says its new partnership with Seabourn, which will see APT charter Seabourn’s expedition ships this year, is also a clear indication of its elevation in its luxury offering.

“That’s APT saying you know what, we’re really trying to raise that offering.”

Seabourn and APT executives.
From right: Seabourn’s Gerald Mosslinger, Robin West and Natalya Leahy with (centre) APT’s David Cox, Carnival Australia’s Ryan Taibel and APT’s Mladen Vukic.

The future of luxury travel

Cox says the biggest changes we will see are that luxury customers are well-informed and can easily do research, so they will be more specific and more demanding.

“AI will help with personalisation, so if you’re building data on customers and what they want… and then you can deliver information specifically to what they are interested in, that’s a place we want to be, and that’s a real opportunity.”

But he says it won’t take the place of a travel agent.

“The luxury customer will still always want to go through a travel agent because if something happens, they still want that person at the end of the phone.”

Cox says it’s also very clear that this market will continue to show the extraordinary growth it’s already seeing.

“That 55-plus age group are investing in travel, and they want to do it well. The luxury traveller is a sector we are confident will continue to show a lot of growth in coming years, and we plan to be leading that sector, starting with that classy monogram and following through on our promises.”

For more information, visit APT.