During the 2010-11 cruise season, over 136,000 passengers and
55,000 crew visited New Zealand ports, contributing over $305
million directly to the economy. Forecasts indicate that future
seasons will see even larger growth with 176,105 passengers
expected during the 2011-12 season.
Cruise offers significant opportunities for New Zealand
operators, but it is a unique sector and there are a few things to
keep in mind.
Step One
For tourism businesses keen to work in the cruise market, it is
important to first ascertain whether your product fits the cruise
industry:
- Is your product unique or specific to a particular
region in New Zealand?
Cruise passengers have very limited time ashore, with an average
of eight hours to get to know a region. This means they tend to
choose activities that are unique or iconic to that region. As a
result, products such as Kiwi 360, which is unique to Tauranga, or
the "one of a kind" Tranz Alpine rail journey, are popular. Tourism
businesses keen to work with the cruise sector should consider and
market whatever is unique or representative of their region.
- Where does your product sit within the wider New
Zealand tour offer?
Cruise passengers tend to choose to do a different activity at
each New Zealand port and will not want to repeat an activity
within the same voyage. For example, cruise passengers will choose
to do their wine-tasting tour at only one port, rather than in
every wine-producing region of New Zealand. Operators need to think
about where their product sits within the wider New Zealand tour
offer in order to gauge its potential.
- Are you Qualmark certified?
While not obligatory, it can be helpful to apply for a Qualmark
certification of your product. The Port of Tauranga and Tourism
Bay of Plenty have jointly made a decision to only support the sale
of Qualmark-rated products to cruise passengers who are not on
organised shore excursions. While this currently only affects
Tauranga and Rotorua operators, this may set a benchmark for other
regions looking to provide quality-accredited products to cruise
passengers.
Step Two
Once you have established that your products fit the cruise
market, as outlined above, there are two options for marketing your
product to cruise companies:
1. Working with Inbound Operators (IBOs)
Inbound Operators (IBOs)
supply cruise liners with shore excursions for their passengers and
are always on the lookout for new and exciting products.
To ascertain your potential to work with IBOs, you need to
consider the following factors:
- Are you export ready?
To be considered by an IBO, operators need to understand
international distribution and have commission structures in
place. See our
checklist for operators looking to sell offshore
- Do you have an existing tourism product?
If you already have a tourism product in operation, you are more
likely to be contracted by an IBO as IBOs are better able to gauge
the experience, take note of feedback from other sources and decide
on its suitability for the cruise sector. Tourism products that are
able to be adapted to the specific requirements of cruise lines,
such as tour length and transfer options, have a higher chance of
success.
- Can you cater to large numbers of visitors?
A ship to New Zealand carries on average 1,490
passengers, almost the equivalent of three jumbo jets. At such a
volume, IBOs naturally steer towards tourism experiences that can
move hundreds of visitors at a time.
- Can you customise your product to the particular needs
of cruise passengers?
In order to gain the interest of IBOs, tourism businesses need to
make their products compelling. They can do so by customising
their product, covering a gap in the market or ensuring that their
product is unique and different to what cruise passengers can buy
cheaper online.
Interested operators should bear in mind the specifications of an
ideal cruise tour (e.g. time of day, age of passengers,
demographics and size of group) so they can customise and deliver a
product which fits with the cruise schedule and passenger
needs.
Note that to some extent every tour needs to be customised to each
ship, as the passengers on board will be different. For example,
the clientele on board the Orion is different to the one on board
the Rhapsody of the Seas; Americans may be interested in New
Zealand's farming and back country, whereas Australians find that
too familiar to be of much interest.
Half-day tours have proven to be very popular with cruise
passengers, with the other half of the day free to spend as they
wish.
A tour of around four hours made up of two venue stops, including
morning or afternoon tea, is ideal. This also enables passengers to
return to the ship for lunch and gives the tour operator the
ability to run the same tour again in the afternoon.
Overall, the more popular tours tend to be those that take
passengers to places which cannot be reached by public transport or
walking, and those that offer a visit to more than one
attraction.
- Are you willing to accept the recommendations of
IBOs?
It is important that tour operators listen to the recommendations
of IBOs, and recognise them as the experts in dealing with cruise
lines.
It is also important to keep in mind that the prices charged on
board are determined by the cruise line's head office and include
many value add-ons and considerations such as convenience (pick up
and drop off at the wharf), peace of mind (guaranteed return to the
ship on time or expenses-paid trip to meet the ship at the next
port), insurance, quality assurance and a recourse to refunds and
complaints.
- Are you prepared to be patient?
IBOs advise tourism businesses to be patient as the cruise
industry can be quite fickle, but good service, consistency and
reliability are good fundamentals for success in the cruise
sector.
2. Selling directly to cruise passengers
Passengers are increasingly seeking out tours sold online or at
local i-SITE
Visitor Centres, so it is no longer as difficult to service the
cruise market directly.
Tourism businesses keen to sell products directly to cruise
passengers should:
- Update your website and ensure it is easily found by search
engines. (
See our Websites and Online Marketing page.)
- Foster good relationships with your local i-SITE, ensuring
frontline staff have experienced your products and know enough
about them to sell them.
- Remember it is vital to update product availability on cruise
ship days, so visitors can easily see if you have spaces
available.
Join Cruise New Zealand
Cruise New Zealand is New Zealand's only cruise-specific
organisation focused on destination marketing and management.
Membership includes access to exclusive data and reports.
Find out more about joining Cruise New Zealand at www.cruisenewzealand.org.nz