Travel Leaders Network identifies fastest growing cruise segments

Most members expect more than 10% growth in 2025 for luxury and contemporary cruising, compared to between 5% and 10% for premium.

River cruises are expected to grow as well, with 38% of those surveyed looking forward to above 10% sales growth in this sector.

Luxury travel upswing

In other TLN survey findings, luxury travel is on the rise — and this coincides with a report earlier this week from the luxury travel consortium Virtuoso where sales are up 14% overall this year, with cruise sales up 18.4.%.

'As a company with one of the largest networks of travel advisors in our membership, it's essential that we regularly survey them to stay informed about their experiences,' said Roger Block, president, Travel Leaders Network. 'The results of these surveys provide valuable insights into what advisors are focused on, what they're selling and their outlook for the near future.'

FIT over groups

TLN also found that independent (FIT) travel presents a promising opportunity for travel advisors, and members are seeing positive returns from their investments in lead generation and social media marketing.

On the land side, using 2024 as a baseline, TLN members plan to sell more FIT travel in the new year. Nearly 80% of respondents expect to sell over 5% more in the FIT segment. Group travel shows mild growth with just 40% of respondents forecasting over 5% in sales growth.

All-inclusive resort sales softening

All-inclusive resorts, where 50% surveyed are forecasting between 5% and 10% growth and 38% are seeing less than 5% growth, is an area of travel with softening sales.

Cruise line executives often identify all-inclusive resorts as a key competitor.

From a marketing perspective, TLN’s advisors see the value of social media. Some 40% of respondents listed it as their No. 1 most effective way of driving new sales. TLN has introduced the new Social Share Pro to give members an automatic way of pushing new, fresh content onto their social platforms.

And members reported their No. 1 change in business priority from 2024 to 2025 is to invest more in marketing and lead generation, including in TLN's engagement programs and Agent Profiler. (Housed at TravelLeaders.com, Agent Profiler gives travelers a way to find advisors based on their niche, destination expertise or location.)

Embracing AI

Travel advisors seem to be embracing the potential of artificial intelligence, with all respondents indicating plans to incorporate AI in some way next year. The primary applications they intend to focus on include marketing communications, customer service responses and crafting their profiles on Agent Profiler.

'It's interesting to note that the areas where our members wish to invest their resources align with the tools we've introduced and refined, such as Social Share Pro, Agent Profiler for lead generation, and TobyAI,' Block said. 'Travel Leaders Network is clearly on the right track in providing members with the support they need. As the survey reveals, while there are some challenges, travel advisors overall are optimistic about the opportunities ahead in 2025 and anticipate another successful year.'

Toby AI was featured in a Seatrade Cruise Review cover story earlier this year about AI applications in cruising.