‘Full of racist Daily Mail readers’ and ‘a happy prison’ were among a list of reasons given by consumers on why they do not book cruise holidays.
Consumers also cited not being able to swim, seasickness, the feeling of being stuck, getting ill, being bored and high cost, according to new research which found 60% of holidaymakers are interested in taking a cruise, yet only 7% are booking.
PA Consulting surveyed 2,000 respondents about their purchasing habits when it came to holidays and presented their findings at the ITT Conference in Sicily.
Customer experience director Louise Davies said beach and camping holidays were the most popular, but more niche experiences such as safari and ski were growing in popularity. She said the former was more likely to be influenced by review sites, while the latter was more likely to be inspired by advertising.
Overall, “positive customer sentiment” dropped during the comparison and the evaluation stages of booking but increased at the inspiration and payment stages, Davies said.
Clia’s UK & Ireland senior vice president membership and director Andy Harmer said the cruise industry had to “overcome those misconceptions” while Peter Shanks, Silversea’s managing director for the UK and Ireland called the survey “sensationalist”.
Whilst so many people have yet to cruise or even step foot on a cruise ship, we continue to need to overcome those misconceptions. We do that by working together – but also by delivering incredible cruise holidays every time. But what a huge opportunity for us all to grow! https://t.co/Qz0etd8AVN
— Andy Harmer (@UKAndyHarmer) June 5, 2018
Very annoying when people with little insight to our sector create senseless surveys seeking sensationalist answers to raise their own brand awareness. On the other hand, Deloitte – did proper research – with cruise showing highest expectation for growth at 14% in 2018. Peter
— Peter Shanks (@pdkshanks) June 6, 2018