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I received this press release from the Cruise Lines International
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LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
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CLIA RELEASES 2008 CRUISE MARKET PROFILE STUDY
Findings Demonstrate Essential Role for Travel Agents in Growing
Cruise Industry
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
Driven by satisfied customers eager to travel more, despite the
uncertain economy, the cruise industry is well-positioned for
continued growth and success. Continuing to play an essential role in
generating the industry’s sales are the nation’s travel agents,
especially those with CLIA certification. These are some of the
conclusions to be drawn from the Cruise Lines International
Association’s (CLIA) 2008 Cruise Market Profile Study released today.
The biannual survey of American consumers, first conducted in 1986,
identifies American consumer demographics, attitudes and intentions as
they relate to leisure travel and specifically to cruising. Research
was conducted online in March and April 2008 by TNS, a leading market
research firm. A total of 2,426 U.S. residents were interviewed.
This year’s findings reinforce previous studies in painting a picture
of a healthy, in-demand cruise industry fueled by vacationers with
broader travel interests than non-cruisers and whose satisfaction with
cruising is based on perceived and realized value. In 2007, 9.57
million Americans took a cruise vacation representing 76 percent of
the total 12.56 million guests carried on CLIA member cruise lines.
Based on this year’s study, 33.7 million Americans stated intent to
cruise within the next three years.
“Given the current economic climate, we are particularly pleased to
see that American cruisers remain bullish on the industry. Their high
satisfaction with a wonderfully diverse cruise product drives their
intention to take more cruises. In fact, cruisers represent the ideal
travel prospect, because of their broad interest in all types of
travel and willingness to spend on what they perceive to be high value
experiences,” said Terry Dale, CLIA’s president and CEO. “This fact is
not lost on CLIA’s nearly 16,000 travel agency members who continue to
be the industry’s invaluable distribution system and consumers’ most
reliable source of assistance and service in planning and booking
vacations.”
Among the findings on travel agent use: • Among all of those in the
cruise target market (25+ years of age and incomes $40,000 or more),
nearly three in five (56%) have used a travel agent for any purpose.
• Travel agent usage has declined slightly but some of the apparent
decline may be due to confusion on the part of consumers who reported
using a Website without knowing that it was actually a travel agency’s
online service or Website.
• About three-quarters (74%) of cruisers book at least some of their
cruises with travel agents.
• Cruisers use travel agents at higher rates than non-cruisers (60%
vs. 44%), especially Luxury cruisers (76%).
• Travel agent usage varies by age, with seniors the best customers,
followed by Baby Boomers and then Gen-Xers.
• Cruisers still represent prime customers for travel agents; most
(78%) use travel agents for at least some travel arrangements, but
especially for a cruise (74%).
• Cruisers are also far more likely than non-cruisers to use an agent
for other services as well: by air (51% cruisers; 37% vacationers),
for hotels (55%; 38%), and for rental cars (35%; 24%).
• The telephone remains the most popular communication between agents
and consumers, however, it’s important to note that Internet usage,
primarily agency Websites, is growing rapidly. Email, 800 number
usage, and in-person visits remain almost stable, each growing by 1%
over the last survey.
Two-thirds of all travelers consider professional
designation/accreditation as a cruise expert, such as CLIA’s Cruise
Counsellor Certification, to be extremely/very important – but, as
expected, is even more important to cruisers (75%) than
non-cruiser/vacationers (56%) – particularly luxury (81%) cruisers.
Other key findings of CLIA’s 2008 Cruise Market Profile Study:
• Consumer interest in cruising continues to be strong despite
downward pressure on travel in general due to the economy and fuel
costs; 77 percent of past cruise vacationers and 55 percent of
vacationers who have yet to take a cruise expressed interest in doing
so within the next three years.
• CLIA survey respondents who indicated a “definite” or “probable”
intent to cruise within the next three years represents almost 34
million adults from the target market (at least 25 years of age with a
minimum household income of $40,000), which is good news for not only
the cruise industry, but also for travel agents who can cultivate new
customers.
• 94.8 percent of all cruisers rate their cruise experience as
satisfying with 44 percent claiming the highest “Extremely Satisfying”
ranking making a cruise among the very best in meeting and exceeding
guest expectations.
• The general profile of the 2008 cruise vacationer is upscale (with a
median household income of $93,000), educated (69 percent have a
college degree) and the median age of cruisers is now 46 years old,
down from 49 in 2006, which shows that cruise vacations continue to
appeal to younger travelers.
• Travelers most frequently name the Caribbean as their cruise
destination of choice (43 percent) with Alaska, Bahamas, Hawaii,
Europe and the Mediterranean/Greek islands also top choices.
• Cruise vacationers agree (80 percent) that a cruise is a great way
to sample destinations that they may wish to visit on a future
land-based vacation.
• The cruise line utilization and the consumer awareness of more than
30 domestic embarkation ports adds strong inducement to future
cruising: 72 percent cite additional “close to home” ports as
increasing their likelihood to cruise. Respondents cited the
convenience of being able to drive to the ship (71 percent), saving
money by not having to purchase air travel (67 percent) and avoiding
the hassles of flying to embarkation points (64 percent) as primary
benefits of “close to home” cruising options.
• Cruise vacationers are the premier leisure traveler. Cruisers travel
39 percent more per year non-cruise vacationers, they take 2.9 annual
leisure trips on all types of vacations by both land and sea (21
percent or nearly one in four of their vacations are by cruise), and
they typically spend 50 percent more on their vacation travel than a
non-cruise vacationer.
• Both past cruisers (69 percent) and cruise prospects (56 percent)
recognize a cruise vacation as providing very high value for the
vacation dollar. Those who have experienced the inclusive nature and
service of a cruise vacation rank cruising as the best vacation value.
• Typical vacationers, including cruisers (75 percent), travel in
pairs, usually with spouses, with the proportion of family travel with
kids under 18 steadily growing (25 percent in 2008 from 13 percent in
2002).
• Travelers, including cruisers, consider destination as the most
influential aspect of choosing a vacation.
A Podcast with Terry Dale, president and CEO, discussing CLIA’s 2008
Cruise Market Profile Study, can be downloaded at:
http://msilver-pr.com/terry_dale_interview.mp3
For more information about CLIA’s 2008 Market Profile Study, visit
www.cruising.org.
# # #
Note: Interviews with Terry Dale, CLIA’s president and CEO, on this
subject are available by contacting Dawn Weissman, M. Silver
Associates, 212-754-6500, ext 228 or dawn@msilver-pr.com.
About CLIA
The nonprofit Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is North
America’s largest cruise industry organization. CLIA represents the
interests of 23 member lines and participates in the regulatory and
policy development process while supporting measures that foster a
safe, secure and healthy cruise ship environment. CLIA is also engaged
in travel agent training, research and marketing communications to
promote the value and desirability of cruise vacations and counts as
members 16,000 travel agencies. For more information on CLIA, the
cruise industry, and CLIA-member cruise lines and travel agencies,
visit www.cruising.org. |