At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we kept hearing stories of people coming off these cruises, labeled as healthy, only to find out they were infected with the virus and tied to it's spread.
What did this shadow on the industry cause to the industry and brands involved in cursing? Grant and myself unbundle their thoughts on the knock on effect for the cruise line industry.
The idea of cruising has been painted for years with the elderly peoples way to travel. New creative concepts for short travel and party boats have opened it to the younger crowd. I went on a cruise and absolute loved it, despite what many people say.
We can't get passed the hit to confidence in cruising. They haven't had a successful PR push to bring out messages confronting allegations of lack of support and confinement. Some news, honesty, transparency is better than speculation and hearsay.
I believe a they should target new marketing towards the next generation of 'cruisers', ones that are too young now to remember what has happened and through their energy, they would nature bring more people along with them.
Revitalizing the brand is essential, much like Hyundai did. You can target a new market by refreshing your brand positioning in particular in the online space. Create some edutainment - educate your new market on the value, what's changing and the difference in experience. Take advantage of multi-channel marketing online and capture the attention of new consumers like the industry has never done before.
