Up market customers are looking for value so agents who sell to them based on price risk losing them, Azamara Club chief executive Larry Pimentel told the UK Cruise Convention.
He spoke about an emerging kind of affluent customer who is redefining the concept of luxury. “They are reasonable, well educated and have excellent household income,” he said.
This type of customer is often aged around 55 who travel in family groups in which the mother makes the key decision about holidays.
“The market is no longer homogenous, it’s no longer a market that can be defined in one way,” said Pimentel who added the financial crisis had caused people to become more conservative.
“The data suggests this audience are careful savers, not yet an audience that spends but is far more frugal than you might think.
“They want to learn, they want things that are personalised, they want quality time with their family, they use email and social media. This audience wants quality versus just luxury.
“This is an audience that wants higher end experiences but most of all they want to be enriched.
“You must be able to define the product, you must be able to ‘dress’ the client in the experience.
“You can no longer pigeon hole a ship or line. This luxury market has expanded beyond the usual lines.
Pimentel said the modern luxury customer was looking for quality and value but also authenticity and they are interested in immersing themselves in destinations and being environmentally aware.
And he said the age of conspicuous consumption had passed. “Sometimes the use of the word luxury can be problematic for some clients feel is seems above them.
“I would rather use upmarket. You want to engage them into the product. You can help them make a good buying decision, that’s part of your role.”
Pimentel said it could be an expensive mistake to sell a customer purely based on price because they will likely go elsewhere in the future.
“Capitalise on great deals because all of us in the industry are going to try to push our rates up but if you sell purely on price you are going to lose them.
“At the upper end of the market you become the product in your agency. If you can talk about why this product works for the client, that’s when they know it’s true.”