Scenic Group’s new UK boss believes the “very unique” positioning of Scenic and Emerald Cruises means agents can earn higher commissions when they upsell river cruise customers to ocean.
Sister brands Scenic and Emerald Cruises both launched as river cruise lines before expanding into the ocean yacht cruise market in 2019 and 2022 respectively.
Emerald Cruises’ first ocean cruise ship Emerald Azzurra was officially named in May 2022, while Scenic Eclipse is set to launch Scenic Eclipse II in 2023, nearly four years after the line’s debut ocean vessel Scenic Eclipse began operating.
Former Azamara UK boss Richard Twynam, who became Scenic Group’s UK and Ireland managing director last month, said these ships presented agents with a “really exciting” commission opportunity.
Addressing agents in a Travel Weekly webcast this week, he said: “If you’ve got river cruise customers who have only considered our brands for river cruising, you can now earn a huge amount more commission by selling up into the yacht space because the price points are a lot higher [with ocean sailings].
“I think this puts us in a very unique position among our peers.”
Twynam explained how traditional river cruise customers who might be “a bit nervous” about sailing on a large ocean vessel can have a small ship experience on Scenic Eclipse or Emerald Azzurra.
“Guests can live like a rockstar which is very attractive to a lot of people,” he added.
Asked about the differences between Scenic and Emerald’s products, Twynam said: “Scenic is probably six star and Emerald is probably five star.
“I don’t like those labels – I think both products are fantastic.”
He went on to say generally speaking more was included with Scenic and added that, in terms of the lines’ ocean ships, there were more dining venues on Scenic Eclipse.
“Azzurra has got one restaurant, while Eclipse has seven or eight so there’s just more choice on Scenic Eclipse,” Twynam added.
More: Scenic’s new UK boss notes ‘huge opportunity’ to grow sales