Just back from Travel Leaders’ EDGE: 8 Questions with Celebrity Cruises’ Katina Athanasiou

At Celebrity Cruises, “intentional” has become more than just a buzzword. According to Katina Athanasiou, the brand’s senior vice president of sales and services, nearly every decision Celebrity is making today is being shaped by guest behavior and feedback.

In a conversation with TMR at Travel Leaders Network’s EDGE conference, Athanasiou talked about how consumer insights helped inspire concepts like The Bazaar on Celebrity Xcel, why advisors need to focus more on the “why” behind a client’s vacation, and how advisor feedback has directly influenced everything from their new visibility into client casino offers to advisor rewards and incentives.

Q. You said on the stage earlier today: “None of what we’re doing is by accident. Every decision has been intentional through the lens of our guests. What does that mean?

It’s all about data and consumer insights, Athanasiou told TMR, adding that about three years ago Celebrity put together a Consumer Insights team to “dive into how our guests are behaving when they’re traveling.”

Furthermore, Celebrity surveys everyone: loyal guests, past cruisers who have never sailed on Celebrity, and consumers who have never cruised before.

“We really look into the data to understand: How do people want to travel? What are the types of experiences that they want to do?

What we’re really working to build are experiences and vacations centered around guest behavior, both the things we see and the data that we collect on the ships, and the things that people are telling us that they want to do.”

With that kind of data, Celebrity can be better at program planning, both in terms of what’s available but also when it’s available and for how long.

Q. Can you give me an example of how that has played out in real life?

Athanasiou didn’t even have to think.

“A lot of that, truthfully, was how The Bazaar was born on Xcel, understanding the data. Learning that people really wanted more authentic experiences of the destination. They wanted more ability to access the the destination. For us to be able to build something like The Bazaar has been a direct result of that.”

Q. You also said on stage: why over what. How can advisors move beyond the what in their conversations with clients?

It’s not a new message, but its one that many cruise line sales execs consider to be one of the most important things a travel advisor can do.

“One of the first things I talk to advisors about is understanding why the vacation is important to them and really getting to that. Who are you traveling with? What’s the outcome you’re looking to achieve?”

The latter questions is one Athanasiou doesn’t think enough advisors ask. She also challenges advisors to take it a step further: what do you want to feel as a result of that vacation?

“I think those three questions really encompass getting into the why?”

She used her own life as an example: “Last summer was our last summer to do a family vacation before my son went off to college…. I didn’t know what the next summers would bring, so I wanted last summer to be incredibly meaningful. I wanted us to spend a lot of time together. Yes, I wanted us to be active, but for me it was about the time in which we did things together. And I shared that with my advisor, and it was amazing.

Q. Is it as important to ask that question if you have a client who calls and wants to go to a destination as it is for a client who calls with a specific cruise line, ship, and sailing date?

In a word, yes, Athanasiou said.

“Especially with a first-time cruiser, it’s all of our jobs to get them on the right product the first time. And if we can find out, what drew you to that? What is most exciting about that particular experience? Are they looking to get away and be secluded with their significant partner? Are they looking to get away but be included in opportunities to meet new people? What’s the objective? Because that can also help determine what ship you put them on. You can talk about what dining experiences or what shows or what activities… And you get to learn your client and that’s where the trust is built.”

Q. You said in that first quote that everything has been intentional through the lens of the clients. What about advisors? How has advisor feedback directly influenced any recent changes?

A big change that Celebrity (and Royal Caribbean) made on behalf of advisors recently is centered on the casino offers advisors’ clients get, usually on a pretty frequent basis.

“We had a lot of feedback on the casino program but we didn’t have the technology to allow our partners – because they sat on different platforms – for our partners to see the offers that their guests were getting.

We’ve built that… We’re now building the ability for them to book the casino offer directly in Espresso. So, not only can they see it, they can also action it immediately. They can help with upgrades, get commission off of the upgrades, and all the additional things.”

Q. What’s the most surprising piece of feedback that you’ve gotten from travel advisors since you took on the role of senior vice president of sales?

Rather than a specific piece of feedback, Athanasiou told TMR about something she hadn’t understood before coming to the role.

“I learned that our travel advisors love to both sell and sail on us. What I call the weight of the emotional equity that we have as a brand with our travel partners is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.

Learning that, for me, honestly shaped and shifted how I, not only led my team, but how we look at going to market on new things, how we look at training, how we look at rewards and incentives for our travel partners, because the emotional equity is so strong and our goal is to ensure that we continue to cultivate that community.”

Q. Can you give a specific example of how that influenced some of your decisions?

Athanasiou gave TMR two examples.

“The ability to lean heavily into Celebrity Rewards as individual recognition and incentive opportunities for advisors has been one. What we’ve done with that program over the last two years has been a direct correlation to the feedback back that we’ve gotten from them.”

Athanasiou returned to the casino program for the second one.

“The additional commission tiers that we added to the casino program, knowing that suites should, in fact, be commissioned higher than an inside or something different. There was a flat kind of commission that wasn’t tiered in the past.

Those are two that come to mind and really just ensuring, how do we make sure that we can continue to be easy to do business with and continue to truly help our partners grow their business.”

Q. The last time I saw you was at the ASTA River Cruise Expo. Was there anything that surprised you about the expo or about river cruising in general?

Athanasiou admitted she hadn’t really know what to expect from the Expo, so what ended up surprising her was the intentionality of the advisors in attendance.

“The thing that surprised me was the intention of the advisors that were present… so understanding the level of investment, in both time and money that they have to make to get there, it all started to click.

When I tell you, we had tremendous conversations, not only at our learning sessions, but even at the tradeshow, albeit quick. It was really about growing business. It was about the learning. Tell me the nuances. Tell me the differentiators. I have a client that’s interested, but I’m not exactly sure yet.

It was very deliberate for them.”