Swan Hellenic targets first time cruisers

eport by Tanya Jefferies

SWAN Hellenic has introduced holidays aimed specifically at first-time cruisers in its newly published winter 2001/2002 programme.

The company, which has only promoted cruises to newcomers in the summer before now, is offering a Singapore-Hong Kong voyage and a

Maldives-India-Sri Lanka itinerary aimed at this sector of the market.

The package for first-time cruisers includes on-board credit of £25, a bottle of wine and a special party. Prices lead in at £1,345 per person for

the nine-day Singapore-Hong Kong sailing and £3,950 for the 15-day Maldives-India-Sri Lanka cruise.

Sales and marketing director Carolanne Dieleman said more first-timers were showing interest in winter cruises, and the company wanted to offer them the

same benefits as they would get if they picked a summer voyage.

“The itineraries have lots of ports of call because first-timers are always concerned about being stuck on a ship for a long time,” she added.