The cruise industry has been tipped as the travel sector best placed to deal with the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis.
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel PR firm The PC Agency, said he felt confident the cruise sector would “bounce back very fast” next year as the industry had historically been “one of the best at dealing with viruses and incidents on board”.
He said the industry was “the early whipping boy for coronavirus” due to the high-profile nature of the Diamond Princess outbreak in the early stages of the pandemic, however he insisted the sector would recover due to many lines already putting new measures in place to make ships secure when cruising recommences.
Speaking on a Clia webcast with Travel Weekly editor in chief Lucy Huxley, Charles said he felt “excited for the prospects” of the industry, highlighting the number of cruise guests who have opted to postpone their trips to 2021 rather than cancel.
He said: “[Cruise lines] have so many years of experience of dealing with food viruses and health issues that they’re actually the best placed. Coronavirus was something so new that nobody quite knew how to deal with it, but I’m confident they’re (cruise lines) the ones that are going to bounce back very fast because they’re already putting measures in place that will secure ships for next year that will make us have a better experience and will make sure we’re not able to spread the virus onboard.”
“That’s why they’re seeing forward bookings are starting to pick up quite strongly for next year,” he added. “So if anyone’s going to do really well it’s the cruise industry and it will benefit from the fact your breathing fresh air at sea.”
In the short term, Charles said he believed the industry needed to focus on reassuring guests and helped to spark confidence once again.
Charles said he believed luxury consumers would steer towards smaller ships but also larger ships which are able to social distance effectively.
He said he believed the luxury sector had been affected by “closures and fear” – highlighting concerns of being stranded overseas if borders close and, becoming unwell overseas as two key factors for why people might not be rushing to book for immediate travel.
He said and the two combined had “created a freeze frame – a moment where people aren’t spending over a period of several months”, however he insisted there was plenty of pent up demand and saved money was “ready to be spent”.
“The question is when it will be spent,” he said.” Because our borders are closed; with no sign yet of travel corridors, for example, out of the UK; with hotels opening but not quite sure how they’re going to open and FCO advice saying that we can’t travel out of the UK for non-essential travel – as a result people haven’t been booking.”
Charles believes demand would need to be “managed to come back” to ensure there isn’t an “overnight rush that puts pressure on the infrastructure of luxury travel”.
He said a lot of villas where already being booked up for next year, but reiterated the luxury travel sector was unlikely to return “as we knew it” but next year. Instead he believes it will be the economy sector that will see a surge first, with people searching for cheap deals and airlines offering cheaper prices as they look to “pump prime the market”.
