Catching Up with Scenic’s Ken Muskat

The last time Travel Market Report spoke with Ken Muskat in Feb. 2023 he was barely two months into his job as managing director, USA at Scenic Group. His priority at the time was to make in-roads into the agency community, growing brand awareness of Scenic’s and Emerald’s ocean and river ship portfolios.

Though he’s made progress since, signing preferred partnerships with some Host agencies, regional consortia, and, most recently, with its first national consortium (TRAVELSAVERS), Muskat made it clear, growing partnerships with agencies remains his primary goal.

“We’re still very much focused on targeting the right agencies, the right trade partners that have the right clientele… It is a unique clientele that we’re looking for. That part of the strategy hasn’t changed,” he said.

It hasn’t been as easy as he thought it would be, he admitted.

“I did think that it was going to be a lot easier to get in with them,” he said, adding he’s encouraged by the progress the company has made, and by the ongoing conversations he’s having.

“We know that there’s a lot of education and a lot of work that goes along with that to show them what we offer that their current suppliers do not,” he said. “It takes getting members of their organization to come onboard, experience and like the product, and educate them on what we offer that the others don’t… so those conversations continue.”

He added that he’s “very confident” that Scenic will be part of other national consortia “in the foreseeable future.”

In the meantime, Scenic already has top agency accounts already working with it that are part of these national consortia.

“We’ve seen a tremendous increase in the number of agencies that want to work with us,” he said, explaining that they track the incoming registration calls. “We’re seeing, month over month, record numbers of travel advisors wanting to register with us.”

To accommodate the growing demand, Muskat has expanded both Scenic’s sales team, as well as the sales service and admin teams, “so we could get things done quicker and be more responsive.”

Surprises along the way

Slow consortium penetration wasn’t the only surprise Muskat encountered during his first (almost) two years on the job.

“The kind of passion that I’ve seen with Glen and Karen [Moroney] is nothing like I’ve ever seen,” he told TMR of Scenic Group’s owners.

He added that they are involved in every aspect of the business from the design and building of the ships, to onboard programming, to technology, and more.

“That passion really resonates throughout the entire company and it creates this family kind of atmosphere. You watch the two of them and that really makes you say, I want to be successful because of them,” Muskat explained.

Similarly the passion that past Scenic and Emerald cruisers have for the brands caught Muskat by surprise.

“They are the biggest advocates that we have. They love going on social media and talking about their vacations. They love talking about the crew.”

Just as importantly, for those who have booked with an advisor, they communicate with their advisor how much they enjoyed the experience, which Muskat said helps reinforce Scenic’s positive brand identity with the trade.

“For us, this is very helpful because we’re still fairly new to the travel advisor community… So when their clients are coming back raving about us, it’s extremely helpful.”

Work still to be done

One of Muskat’s challenges continues to be growing brand recognition, particularly beyond river.

“There clearly is more familiarity with river… We’ve only been doing ocean for five years, of which two years were in the pandemic. River, we’ve been doing since 2008,” he said.

But he added, “I’d rather have that challenge than not have such a great portfolio to be able to talk about.”

The ASTA River Cruise Expo has been helpful, he told TMR, because every presentation he and his sales team makes includes information about the ocean-going fleet as well. (Next year’s Expo will feature both a Scenic river ship and Emerald river ship for the first time.)

Scenic/Emerald differentiators

Muskat also spoke about some of the differentiators he’s learned about, several of which he hadn’t realized when he took the job.

At the top of the list, he told TMR, is the empowerment that the crew are given to enhance both the brand and guests’ experiences.

“The level of empowerment we give them, whether it’s related to coming up with different drinks, coming up with ideas for the menu, coming up with surprise and delight moments… they’re always coming up with new, exciting things to do for the guests,” he said.

Talking specifically about Emerald’s yacht products, Muskat told TMR there’s nothing else like it on the market, unlike the Scenic yachts, which have competition from other lines doing similar ultra-luxury expedition-style cruising.

“They [Emerald’s yachts] stand in a world of their own” he said.

Both Emerald Azzurra and Emerald Sakara feature 50 suites, accommodating up to 100 passengers. Emerald Kaia, which debuts in 2026, will have room for up to 128 guests. However, the ship will also be larger than the first two, enabling Emerald to offer more amenities, higher ceilings, larger health and wellness areas, and more specialty dining.

Innovation in river and yacht cruising

TMR asked Muskat how Scenic continues to innovate within a niche that’s narrowly defined. His answer? It’s all about the experiences you can have and less about the hardware of the ship.

Such experiences can range from helicopter and submarine tours onboard the Scenic Eclipse yachts to celebrity chef-led sailings, themed educational programming, and additional spa and wellness activities.

“Karen, for example, is very into health and wellness. She just finished presenting to us some of the unique things Kaia is going to have, which we can’t announce yet,” Muskat said.

On the adventure side, he said Scenic is able to offer unique helicopter experiences, “tours that nobody else can offer, especially in the Kimberly region.”

What’s new for Scenic and Emerald?

When asked about what’s new for travel advisors to share with their clients, Muskat focused on special sailings, from an upcoming Broadway-themed sailing to the line’s ongoing celebrity chef-led sailings.

He’s also excited about the deployment of Scenic Eclipse II to the Southern Hemisphere.

“Scenic Eclipse II went back home to Australia this past May and she’s continuing to stay there and offer some incredible sailings in the Kimberly region, Indonesia, Fiji, New Zealand, and other areas within the South Pacific.”

He added that the Kimberly sailings, in particular, have been incredibly popular and are nearly already sold out for next year.

Also recently announced is the repositioning of Emerald Azzurra to the Caribbean.

“Emerald Sakara is nearly sold out for this winter, so now we’ve got Emerald Azzurra to help continue to drive bookings for the interest that we have,” Muskat said.

Other sailings he is excited for include the line’s first-ever loyalty cruise, which he’ll be hosting onboard Emerald Sakara on Dec. 14, 2024. The sailing is nearly sold out, with less than a handful of cabins left. He hinted at 2025 and 2026 loyalty sailings, but couldn’t offer details.

On the trade side, Muskat pointed out that the line’s first group amenity points program specifically for Scenic’s yachts sailings is still new.

“We always had it on river and on the Emerald yachts, but we didn’t have it included with Scenic Eclipse I and II, so we just launched a whole new group program for those ships, which has been very well received from the trade.”

Will there be a Scenic Eclipse III?

With a third ship on the way for Emerald, TMR was curious when a third Scenic yacht will be coming. While telling us he can’t really comment on that, Muskat did say he’s hopeful.

“If we continue on this trajectory, while we don’t have anything in the plans right now, hopefully that will be something we can be talking about in the future.”