Agents: Accident Will Hurt First-Time Cruise Market

The Costa Concordia tragedy will likely have a negative impact on developing the first-time cruise market, at least for a while, cruise-selling agents told Travel Market Report.

While the shocking images of the felled ship will give pause to even experienced cruisers, they are not likely to be discouraged from cruising, the agents said.

They also noted that the short-term memories of consumers should mitigate any long-term effects overall.

Validating the fear
“People who have been on the fence about cruising and who have never gone, I think this will deter them from cruising for a while longer,”  said Ryan Ranahan, director of marketing and information technology for Crown Cruise Vacations in Princeton, N.J.

Crown Cruise Vacations had two clients on board the Concordia at the time of the accident, he added. “We have been in contact with them and they are OK and are in good health.”

Barbara Oliver, CTA, ECC, owner of All Together Now Travel in Valencia, Calif., agreed that some people who have been considering cruising will be discouraged. “This incident will validate the fear of those who have been afraid to try cruising.”

“I do believe it will impact prospective first-time cruisers,” Sandy Zingrich, owner of Travel Leaders – South County Office in St. Louis, also agreed. “Those who have never cruised and are unconvinced a cruise is a great vacation will dig in their heels even more.”

Disturbing pictures
Still another agent who agreed is Jerry Vaughn, president and CEO of World Voyager Vacations in Federal Way, Wash. Several survivors of the accident came from Federal Way, though they were not booked by Vaughn.

“I definitely think there will be a short-term impact for first time cruisers as the news about the Concordia seems to go from bad to worse each day,” he said. “The pictures of the ship are quite disturbing, particularly for those who have never cruised before.”

Neither Oliver, Zingrich and Vaughn had clients on the Costa Concordia, nor have they had any cancellations since the tragedy occurred.

Experienced cruisers know the drill
However, both Oliver and Zingrich pointed out their clients are all experienced cruisers.

“This incident won’t affect those like my clients who already know and love it [cruising],” Oliver said.

Michelle Fee, CEO of Cruise Planners / American Express and Dwain Wall, senior vice president and general manager of CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. agreed as well.

“I don’t think a cruiser who’s been onboard a ship, who has experienced life boat drills and safety onboard is going to be concerned,” Fee said.

Experienced cruisers have a better understanding of just how safe cruises are, Wall added.

“Experienced cruisers are more apt to not be impacted by this as much as first-time cruisers who clearly don’t have the same understanding of how much focus there is on safety,” he said. “All of us who have cruised have witnessed first-hand not only the drills you go through as a passenger, but also the drills that they continually put the crew through.”

Damaged image of modern cruise ships
But not all agents completely agree. Even some experienced cruisers might pause for a moment, both Vaughn and Zingrich said.

“The most damaging aspect of this in my opinion is the realization that the big, modern high-tech ships can do down. It will give some people pause for sure,” said Vaughn.

Some agents see cancellations…
Only one agency Travel Market Report contacted has so far seen any cancellations. South Seas Travel in Louisville, Kentucky, had a family sailing out of Barcelona on Princess. They called to cancel on Monday.

“We are concerned, yes. But we will do what we can on our own to keep the Wave coming,” said South Seas Travel co-owner Melissa D. M. Ortiz, ACC.

Anecdotally, Cruise Planners CEO Michelle Fee said her group has had only one cancellation and Travel Market Report saw a report by one home-based agent on Facebook that she’s had three so far.

Other agents haven’t seen cancellations but are getting calls from concerned clients.

“I have unfortunately had several phone calls from customers planning a European cruise. They’re concerned about their safety – I think they just want their hands held,” said Steven Lincoln, owner of Lincoln Travel in Bridgewater, Virginia.

… Others see good bookings
Fee told Travel Market Report she spoke with a cruise line executive on Monday who said their line had a good day in terms of booking and hadn’t seen a slow down.

And Wall said that even clients booked on the Concordia further into 2012 aren’t canceling their cruise vacations. Instead they’re looking at what their options are in terms of either cruising on another Costa sailing or another line.

“We haven’t heard of any wholesale cancellations. In fact, we’ve actually seen our bookings are up year-over-year, the same three days since the accident.”

But he added that he’s “not burying his head in the sand thinking that it couldn’t get worse in terms of cancellations or impact on business.”

Short-term impact
However, everyone Travel Market Report spoke with agreed any impact on first-time or experienced cruisers will be short-term and minimal.

“We have short- term memories,” Fee said. “I don’t think people are going to give up cruise vacations. Other segments might somewhat benefit by this but I think that’ll be in the short-term.”

The fact that such an incident is incredibly rare helps with the short term nature of the impact, said Lincoln. “I don’t expect a big impact. People understand that this is an extreme situation.”

Pauline Power, director of cruises, eastern region for Altour International, also agreed. “I wouldn’t take this horrendously awful tragedy and say it’s going to affect the whole cruise industry. People are too intelligent. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize this is a one-off, awful thing that happened.”

“I think after the media coverage subsides and time passes, the impact overall will probably be minimal,” Vaughn added.

Nick Verrastro, Fran Golden and Harvey Chipkin contributed to this report.