The cruise industry is on a spending spree, investing more than $25 billion on 55 new ships over the next five years. And that’s good news for travel agents, who expect much of the ensuing business to trickle down into their ledgers.
A study of 700 North American travel agents released this week by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) found they expect the biggest increase in business to come from ocean cruising (36.3%) and river cruising (28.2%) this year, followed by all-inclusive resorts (22.6%) and land-based vacations (4.8%).
“It really is a positive outlook for the cruise industry, which is no surprise to us,” CLIA senior vice president of strategic marketing and communications Lorri Christou told TMR. “Our agents reinforced what we have been saying. Over the past year, 5 years, 10 years, the growth has been phenomenal…Not only are people coming back, but folks who have never cruised are coming as well.”
One agent in four (43%) expects a 10% or larger increase in cruise volume; 21.5% expect between 6% and 10%; and 19% expect between 1% and 5%. Just 4.1% expect cruise sales to decrease.
Read More
Learn how to become a home based travel agent and open your own online travel agency. www.HomeBasedTravelAgents.ORG
No comments:
Post a Comment