World events continue to affect the way consumers plan and book cruise holidays, and brands able to reassure a wary audience may come out on top, according to new data from our sister publication, World of Cruising

Visitors to the World of Cruising website continued to seek the latest information about global events last month. The publication’s running coverage of the situation in the Middle East remained the top story.

Another popular article was an explainer on the EU’s recently introduced Entry/Exit System (EES) and how to minimise chances of getting caught in airport chaos.

Elsewhere, Google Trends data revealed that – in the last three months – UK searches for ‘jet fuel shortage’ were up 2,600 per cent.

These figures hint at consumers balancing risk factors before making a decision, from flight cancellation to airport queues and travel cover.

One thing that seems obvious from the most recent World of Cruising search data is that consumers want to travel soon. More than one in five searches is for departures in the next eight weeks. If you extend the range to look at last-minute and summer departures, that number climbs to nearly 60 per cent of searches.

This trend for short lead times is backed by a recent survey the publication conducted. Compared to 12 months ago, 57 per cent said they were now likely to book closer to departure.

Interestingly, uncertainty over jet fuel shortages and EES airport chaos doesn’t seem to have translated into increased demand for no-fly ex-UK departures. On the other hand, and perhaps surprisingly, the Mediterranean has been the biggest winner, with searches up over 30 per cent month on month.

So, what lessons can we glean from all this? Consumers are not giving up their sunshine escape to the Med, while also banking that they can beat the worst of the fuel shortages by travelling sooner rather than later. That may mean contending with long EES-driven airport queues – but this is a manageable logistical issue. Fuel shortages aren’t.

For cruise companies, these figures highlight two priorities: performance marketing should drive the lates push – putting the right cruises in front of consumers eager to travel as soon as possible.

Stimulating demand for long-lead departures should focus on brand marketing and creating a strong affinity for your products to woo consumers wary of planning too far ahead.