Cruise agents should look to past cruisers when trying to secure new bookings after the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is over, says Royal Caribbean vice president of EMEA Ben Bouldin.

Addressing trade partners at the cruise line’s ‘Café Royal’ webinar last week, he said: “Guests who have cruised before and cruised with Royal before and had a great time, let’s talk to them first as they will be our ambassadors.

“A lot of our past guests are desperate to get cruising again and want to know when that will be. Reach out to past guests who have sailed on Anthem before and see if they want to come back with us.”

In recent years, many cruise brands including Royal Caribbean have been attempting to tap the lucrative new-to-cruise market, but following the coronavirus pandemic, Bouldin believes this “could be a lot more challenging in the short term” and agents should therefore focus their time on speaking to those who are already loyal to cruising.

“It will be a journey,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to do from the management side of things. Demonstrating to media that the changes we are making are truly significant and we are one of the best-prepared industries in travel and one of the safest industries to take a vacation with.

“Once we’ve shouted these messages, we can start to market to them again and win back the hearts and minds of each audience. This will be achieved by word of mouth and talking about cruise in a confident way.”

At the cruise line’s webinar, Bouldin also outlined what he believes could be the new norm for cruising post-Covid-19, with additional screenings, fewer passengers on board, automation at check-in and enhanced social distancing measures all being potentially part of the new health and safety protocols.

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