Cruise bouncing back as agents report sale spike

Royal Caribbean International boss believes it could be a “stunning” wave sales period

Royal Caribbean International President and chief executive Michael Bayley believes that if agencies can get “staffed up” and “ready to go”, the January to March peak sales period for cruise could be very profitable.

Bayley admitted he was “shocked” by the volume of direct business the line attracted during the pandemic and that he was “concerned about the trade channel because it was significantly below what we would expect”.

“Naturally, a lot of businesses had to close or slow down and we understood it would take time for our partners to re-engage and trade,” he said, but he noted trade sales were “increasing” every day and that Royal Caribbean was “rooting” for agents.

“We want [agents] to get that business back up and firing on all cylinders,” he said.

“The sooner the better – ideally pre-wave. If we can get the entire travel advisory community
up and functioning, ready to go, staffed up, it could be a stunning wave.”

Bayley said Royal Caribbean was currently spending more on marketing each month than ever before and was “seeing the results coming through”.