A month after launch, the Expedition Cruise Network (ECN) has annonuced, at its first member and media event, another two expedition cruise lines – Oceanwide Expeditions and Polar Latitudes – will join the network. This brings the membership of cruise operators to 16, while 330 trade professionals have signed up to the trade membership portal.
At the event, Martin Johnson, Chairman, and Akvile Mazoraite, CEO announced that the Expedition Cruise Network will hold the most extensive expedition cruising webinar series ever produced for the travel trade during the second half of 2023. Keynote speakers will be drawn from both the network’s expedition cruise members as well as guest speakers in areas such as marine sustainable tourism. Agents and cruise specialists can sign up here: https://www.expeditioncruisenetwork.com/webinars to join the online sessions on:
18 May How to Sell Expedition Cruising
28 June Sustainability and Responsible Travel in Expedition Cruising
19 July Expedition cruising beyond Polar regions: shining a light on global expedition cruising destinations
17 August Selling luxury expedition cruising
18 October Polar Matters: selling Antarctica, Arctic and beyond
22 November Galapagos and South America: small yacht and expedition cruising
12 December A festive webinar edition: a year of expeditions, ECN top picks.
As the Expedition Cruise Network grows, the ECN will provide intelligence and analysis on the sector’s trends. From its first survey of members this week, every member reported strong growth in the first quarter of 2023; new entrants to the market and price points starting at £5,000.
Akvile Marozaite, CEO of ECN said:
“We are pleased to report that all of our Expedition Cruise Network Members have reported growth or significant growth in the first quarter of 2023.”
“Antarctica is by far and away the best performing destination, with the northern polar region and the Galapagos Islands the next most popular destinations while Polynesia and Patagonia were specified as booking well too. Members are providing itineraries formerly accessible to just the hardiest explorers to destinations including Greenland, Svalbard and the Northwest Passage. West Africa and Western Australia are other new headline grabbing itineraries to dramatic landscapes, unique cultures and wildlife.”
“The expedition cruising experience is quite different from traditional cruising. Not only providing the opportunity to explore remote destinations safely and in comfort, and encounter rare wildlife, but offering a great deal of time spent outside of the ship enjoying life on the water in the likes of zodiacs paddle boards and kayaks with expert naturalists.”
“This is a dynamic and increasingly competitive market with new entrants entering the sector all the time. Two members also report increased trends for customers booking both very early and last minute – perhaps due to discounting sited by one member. All our members aim to leave a minimal footprint due to today’s highly energy-efficient, brand-new generation of low-energy vessels, while customers are increasingly becoming better informed with an increasingly younger demographic.”
“All the members said that they were looking to increase trade support with the majority looking to educate and market to consumers on their unique worldwide itineraries; improve their sustainability credentials and develop new itineraries.”
“In addition, the majority of expedition cruise companies are aiming to introduce new tools to help the travel trade sell their product; with the majority saying that they would like to offer more ship and fam trips and improve in person events. One member reported that they were looking to give access to their experts such as their captains, expeditionary leaders and cruise directors.”
“These are invariably luxury products – providing unrivalled access to hard to get to destinations, but with average price points leading in at £5,000, this is now a competitive market, no longer obtainable just to the super rich.”
