Celebrity Cruises’ new brand president has said her team is “starting to dream” about what comes next after the Edge-class series of ships.
Speaking on a flying visit to the UK just 11 days after taking over the helm from outgoing president and chief executive Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Laura Hodges Bethge said: “In our business, obviously you’ve got to order ships very far out, and it takes quite some time from dreaming and working with the yards to fruition.
“So now is the right time to start dreaming. It’s already started and we’ll soon be talking about what comes next for Celebrity.”
She pointed out that the line still has two Edge-class ships to bring into service – Ascent this year and an as-yet-unnamed fifth vessel in 2024. Hodges Bethge said she would be putting her own stamp on the final ship.
“Lisa [Lutoff-Perlo] has left me gifts of ‘white boxes’ on ‘Edge 5’ to create and innovate, which is really fun. We’ve been hard at work on that.”
Hodges Bethge added: “Anything that we add to the brand will be done keeping customers at the forefront – things they covet, want and love.”
Commenting on travel agents and their role in Celebrity’s future, she said: “I absolutely love the trade!
“They’re a huge portion of our business. When you sit in the premium space, it’s important to have agents as interpreters to help the customer really understand the value proposition and how they can take advantage.”
Hodges Bethge admitted Celebrity had had to “change its style” due to changes in the distribution landscape.
“We’ve seen significant consolidation in the US,” she said.
“A lot of folks who had bricks and mortar [agencies] in the pandemic shut those down to go home-based, so we’ve had to change our style there, much like we are in the UK with this new Celebrity For Beginners programme; training new agents up to speed. The beautiful thing is, that across the globe, we’re seeing a lot of new folks become travel advisors, which shows how alive and well this distribution system is.”
More: Lisa Lutoff-Perlo to step down as Celebrity Cruises president and chief
Cruise industry must ‘overcome stereotypes’ to attract new customers, says Lutoff-Perlo