Catching Up with Swan Hellenic’s Andrea Zito

Like many luxury and expedition cruise lines, Swan Hellenic is, so far, weathering current economic uncertainty fairly well. Since September of 2024, Swan Hellenic has been out beating its projections every quarter. Antarctica for 2025 is sold out at a 30% higher price when compared to 2024. And 2026 is just about sold out, as well. The line’s West Africa cruises are also, similarly, doing very well.  

But there is some softness the line is trying to combat.

“Summer 2025 is a little bit soft,” Andrea Zito, CEO of Swan Hellenic Cruises, told TMR during a sit-down interview at this year’s Seatrade Cruise Global conference.

When asked what’s behind the softness, Zito said some of it can be attributed to geopolitical issues and overall uncertainty, but, he emphasized it’s primarily due to overcapacity in the summer’s main expedition destination – the Arctic.

As he explained, more than 60% of the Arctic is in Russia, which used to give expedition cruise lines more room to operate in different parts of the Arctic. Since 2022, this part of the Arctic has been mostly closed off.

“Now we are limited to operations between Norway and the Canadian arctic and we are stepping on our feet there,” he said.

Zito admitted Swan Hellenic needs to do a better job differentiating itself from other cruise lines sailing in the Arctic.

“Iceland to Norway, you can go with us, with Silversea, with Scenic, but you can also go with Holland America. And on paper, the itinerary looks the same. But the experience is completely different,” he said.

Making it even more confusing is that while the itineraries might look similar on paper, the pricing can be 10 times higher with Swan Hellenic than with Holland America.

Standing Out from the Crowd

TMR asked Zito: what does make Swan Hellenic stand out from this crowd?

“We really allow people to travel very deeply in the destination,” Zito said. “We strive to find remote places that you can go to safely and we try to have the best lecturers.”

Lecturers cover the gamut from the sciences – like geology, volcanology, and biology – to the social sciences of archaeology, political science, and more.

The announcement of Aleqa Hammond, the first female prime minister of Greenland, as a speaker on an upcoming Arctic sailing is an example of the type of talent that the cruise line draws. That announcement also helped provide a “good boost” in bookings.

North American Sourcing on the Rise

Though Swan Hellenic draws a largely international crowd, the line is focused on expanding its share of North American travelers. Currently, some 35% of all passengers (on a yearly basis) are from North America.

Zito said his goal is to see that number go up to between 50% and 55%.

“We joined Virtuoso exactly one year ago. This is boosting the American market a lot,” he said.

In talking about the North American market, TMR asked what percentage of the bookings for the West Africa sailings come from the region. Zito told us it is about 30%.

He also offered words of reassurance for advisors who might have interested – but nervous – clientele.

“It is a very safe place, because we are very much welcomed by the local authorities,” he said, adding that they often have the tourism ministers of the countries they visit onboard.