Ambassador Cruise Line bosses say their core target market of over-50s holidaymakers is “more resilient” than other age groups to the cost-of-living concerns.
Phil Garden, chief commercial officer, told a Travel Weekly webcast: “We talk to a market that has a different outlook in the way that they spend their money and the way that they approach holidays.
“It is more resilient to some of those [cost of living] challenges.”
Speaking at the launch of the line’s second ship, Ambition, Gardner said Ambassador’s premium value cruises offer something unique for older passengers, adding: “This is going to be something which continues to be really attractive to people.
“The demographic that we talk to holds its own more steadily than other areas of the market, which is very positive for the travel agent community.”
Cruise line chief executive Christian Verhounig said guests no longer see holidays as a luxury but as a necessity – and guests who have typically sailed with more luxury brands are instead choosing Ambassador.
“With our position in the premium value area, we see an influx of people who say ‘I want to go on holiday; I may not go to the top end of the market but I still want a holiday’,” he said.
“It’s having the product mix right, the right mindset and the right community on board – it is what they’re looking for and we are having a massive benefit from this position in this market.”
Gardner also noted that feedback from clients showed more demand for shorter sailings so the 2024 programme has a greater number of cruises of 15 nights or less.
“That seems to be what the market is asking for,” he said.
“The initial sales that we had with the 2024 launch show that was absolutely the right decision.”
He also hailed the support from travel agents, adding: “The level of trade engagement is on the rise.
“We are constantly increasing the size of the team.”
He said Clia figures showed there were 1.7 million UK cruisers in 2022 – still down on pre-pandemic levels which reached almost two million, but he is confident the market will recover and surpass that number.
“We look forward to playing our part in that. We have been really pleased with the amount of support from the agent community as there is lots of demand for a no-fly ex-UK regional programme.”
More: Ambassador sees ‘high demand’ for no-fly cruises as second ship launches
Ambassador Cruise Line to air first-ever TV advert
Ambassador Cruise Line hails trade support after sales surge
Ambassador bolsters distribution team with two BDM appointments