Cruises, Italy seeks to double volume

Rome - The cruise industry is attempting to reach the two million cruise passengers mark, in the Italian market. Quite a feat to pull off (there are those who question the time frame: within five years, according to some, or even twice that), one which will be discussed at the Italian Cruise Day (ICD) to be held 2 October, at Civitavecchia’s Stazione Marittima, in the second of three debates on the side-lines of the Italian Cruise Watch, the report on the state of the art and future prospects of the cruise industry in Italy. The record in the Italian market was reached in 2009, when there were 923,000 passengers: since then, the numbers have always remained around that number, without breaking through the one million mark, with estimates for 2015 at just over 800,000 passengers, according to operators.

Italy is the third European market after Germany (1.8 million passengers) and Great Britain. However, the so-called penetration index, which focuses on the demographics of people who are deemed to be in a position to book a cruise vacation (age, disposable income, and so on), remains low, at around 1.4%, while for much of the cruise market - globally, but Italy conforms to the model - the proportion between repeaters and new customers is around 60-40%. But, at the global level, the market has moved ahead and cruise companies are in the midst of renovation and expansion of their fleets. “To jumpstart the market as well,” explains Francesco di Cesare, president of Risposte Tourism, which organizes the ICD, “there is no single solution. We seek a frank debate between companies and agents in order to find an answer to this question. Today the main channel to sell cruises is the travel agency: on one hand it’s true that companies prefer this channel since it is targeted to customers who plan their trip in advance (last minute bookings are not much loved by operators) but also because the customer, the first-timer in particular, wants to understand what they are purchasing, and a cruise trip is much more complex than a flight or a three-night stay in the hotel.”

So we still need to analyse whether cruise companies are providing agents with the tools they need to sell cruises more effectively, as well as find ways to develop and enhance online sales. On the other hand, adds Mr.di Cesare, there’s the cruise’s own array of offerings; while the winning combination is still the week-long trip, with cultural sightseeing highlights, relaxation, or mixture of the two, mini-cruises and the med-cruises are increasingly catching on: they represent a more effective way (smaller time requirement, less expense, perhaps the theme of the trip, rather than the cruise itself, providing an extra incentive to go on a trip) to garner those customers who see cruises as just a luxury to be looked at from afar.