Celebrity Cruises’ UK boss says the launch of new ship Edge in November has attracted younger passengers to the line.
Bookings on Edge show a demographic around “five to six years” younger than the average Celebrity Cruises passenger, vice-president and managing director of UK, Ireland and Asia Jo Rzymowska said.
“It is early days, and age is less important to us, it is more about attitude,” she said. “But we are seeing about a five to six-year reduction in age to our overall guest demographic.
“We are now seeing [passengers aged] mid-50s, rather than early 60s.”
Rzymowska extolled the virtues for agents who understand a cruise line’s ethos and said she believes this will attract more new passengers to Celebrity.
She said “a mix” of agencies from across the country were focusing more on knowing a line inside out, which in turn would put the “right people on the right ships”.
Historically, the responsibility fell with the cruise lines to build the market, Rzymowska said.
However, she added the landscape was changing and there was now a “joint responsibility” between agents and the line to sell cruise.
Speaking at Celebrity Cruises’ Agent Appreciation Awards in London, Rzymowska said: “It is all about partnerships – the stronger the understanding of both parties’ objectives the better.
“A lot of agencies are buying into our ethos and really focusing in on the differentiation – rather than the price and product.
“That for me is very exciting because by working together we’ll truly find the right customers for the right brands.
“The investment that I am seeing from agents – means that all of us will bring in more people into cruise. That is what I am finding now.”