The second England-wide lockdown announced on Saturday is a “distraction for agents who are already doing an incredible job in almost impossible circumstances”, according to the sales chief of P&O Cruises.
But he said it would not impact on the long-term outlook and confidence for cruise.
Vice-president of sales and marketing Alex Delamere-White said: “The really hard balance for the trade at the moment is that demand for summer 2021 onwards is very strong, but undoubtedly, people will have bought holidays [to depart] in the next month in light of the new travel corridors.
“So I don’t think [this new lockdown] changes the long-term outlook and confidence in cruise, and indeed travel in general, but I think it’s a distraction for agents that are otherwise doing an incredible job, in almost impossible circumstances.”
Delamere-White admitted that current demand was not really from new-to-cruise customers but insisted that was also “not a long-term issue”.
“Travel agents are a fantastic source of newcomers to our brand. One of the unique aspects of the trade is that they provide independent advice on what’s right for their customers,” he said.
“At the moment, we’re seeing fewer newcomers in the sector because we’re going through a pause in operating and recommendations and word of mouth are a huge driver for us. When people aren’t cruising, we would expect the number of newcomers to be down. We’ve also been less active with our marketing which has had an effect as well.
“But I don’t think this is a sign of any lack of appetite for people to want to try a cruise. It’s not a long-term issue. We will be trying to generate demand for cruise in Wave for existing and new to cruisers.”
Delamere-White added that P&O Cruises would be “more overt with our marketing messages” about the health and safety aspect of cruising in the Wave period.
“Customers are reassured that the industry is coming together to make sure that all our guests and crew are safe and that we put health and safety at the top of our list. We will do everything we can to protect them when the time is right to start cruising again. That will all be part of generating demand,” he said.