Accord Marketing chief client officer Maria Payne looks at what reference points the cruise sector should use in 2022.

As we mark the two-year anniversary of a global pandemic and roll up our sleeves for a (fingers-crossed) plain sailing season ahead, it raises the question – what is the most suitable reference point for cruise data going forward?

Throughout 2021, 2019 served as the only valuable benchmark to note growth and compare key periods of seasonality.

However, as we crossover that two-year threshold of disruption, should we still be looking back three years to 2019 for clarity?

Or is it time to mark 2021 as a representation of, dare we say it, ‘the new normal’ and a better benchmark in a market where the disruptive dust from Covid-19 has not yet settled?

Cruise lines should go ‘month by month’

The answer is both. 2022 didn’t kick off how we hoped with the omicron variant hitting the beginning of cruise’s traditional wave season.

And so, with seasonality already disrupted, this is no ‘normal’ year either.

Going forward, cruise brands should continue to review progress on a month-on-month basis to note short-term growth.

They should also monitor against both 2019 and 2021 on a wider level to see whether traditional peaks are taking shape again and whether 2022 really is the year that we bounce back for good.