P&O Cruises plans to focus more on its core brand rather than marketing individual ships within its fleet, according to its managing director.
The line has one of the strongest brands in the industry, but has often marketed on a ship-by-ship basis due to the wide range of vessel sizes, experiences and passenger mixes it offers.
Speaking during the welcome celebrations for new ship Azura in Southampton, Carol Marlow said it was important for agents to understand which ships and sailings were suited to particular customers, but the overriding focus would now be on the consistent experience passengers received across the fleet.
“Over the next few years the P&O-ness will become more important and we will market less by individual ships,” she explained.
“We appreciate that as we get more ships it is a challenge for agents so our aim is to make it easier. We owe it to our passengers and travel agents to simplify what we do.
“For our travel agents the most important thing is to understand what the P&O product is, and then it is about finding the right ship for the customer.”
Azura is the second superliner to join the P&O Cruises fleet, but is less overtly targeted at families than sister ship Ventura and is expected to appeal to the line’s core customers.
“We are aiming at the heartland P&O customer and experienced cruisers who may have sailed on other lines,” Marlow said.
“This is very much a ship rather than a floating resort and will offer classic cruising as opposed to a holiday at sea.”
Referring to the teething problems experienced when Ventura joined the fleet in 2008, Marlow added: “We trust that we have learned from previous experience and with our experience of operating this size of ship I am confident Azura will be great from day one.”