‘We are focusing on broadening and deepening our distribution system within the China market, and we are investing heavily in our sales and marketing to do that,’ Bayley told delegates in his keynote speech at the Seatrade Asia Pacific Cruise Congress in Shanghai Baoshan on Wednesday.
Bayley said the development of the distribution system would benefit RCI in terms of helping its travel partners to better sell products to a wider audience.
About 30 large agencies that charter ships then sell the cruises to consumers have been central to growing the cruise business in China in the last eight years.
Royal Caribbean will not be giving up on the charter model but needs to innovate and develop more ways of selling using another tier of distributors which can be trained to target market and sell their own inventory, according to Shu Zhang, chief commercial officer for RCI North APAC & China, a sales and distribution panel later in the day.
'This should stabilise prices and give us a greater knowledge of what is happening to the inventory,' Shu said.
With Royal Caribbean having been active in the Chinese market for at least 10 years, Bayley reiterated the company's commitment to continue growing its business there. ‘China accounts for about 10% of our overall business and it is a market growing at a remarkable rate over the past several years,’ he said.
RCI's deep engagement with China is demonstrated by five big cruise ships operating from the country, including two of its latest and greatest. The line recently introduced Ovation of the Seas to Tianjin in northern China, and deployed Quantum of the Seas from Shanghai last year.
The growth of any cruise market or for any cruise line business, however, must be achieved alongside an enhancement of the passenger experience, Bayley pointed out. One area of focus is on improving itineraries that go beyond just short sailings from the homeports, providing ‘greater richness’ for travelers.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Cruise News to your Google News feed.
