CLIA Report Says Travel Agents More Important Than Ever to Cruise Industry

CLIA has released its third Travel Agent Cruise Industry Outlook Report and one of the most important things that it revealed is something you probably already knew: Travel agents are crucial to the cruise industry.

This is the third installment of the quarterly research study that CLIA is using to help forecast trends in both the cruise and travel agency communities.

"The Travel Agent Cruise Industry Outlook enables us to identify key trends using the insights of travel agents," said Cindy D'Aoust, president and CEO, CLIA. "A key finding from the report is that, as people continue to travel the globe, travel agents are playing a vital role in matching travelers’ desires to the right cruise experience both near and far."

The report focused on several key findings. Two of the main findings are that all-inclusive cruising options are a win for clients and that the cruise industry is still gaining popularity.

Sixty-six percent of the agents participating in the survey reported that all-inclusive options were very important to their clients who are booking luxury cruises.

In addition, 58 percent of travel agents noted that clients most valued a unique travel destination.

Cruise continues to grow in popularity — and not surprisingly — river cruising is the strongest growth market. Sixty-four percent of travel agents said that they expect to sell more river cruise packages this year and 21 percent expect to see a significant growth in that category. This correlates nicely with research that shows all-inclusive products are a win with clients as river cruising is a very all-inclusive product.

Travel agents also see a big growth potential in the cruise industry. Seventy-three percent expected to see increased sales this year. Of those, 27 percent said that they expect to see growth of 10 percent or higher.

Source: Travel Pulse