The Case for Custom Shore Excursions
by Robert W. Joselyn, CTCThis is the latest in an ongoing series offering insights and advice from the president and CEO of Travel Agency Management Solutions (TAMS).
Not long ago I began asking TAMS members for data on their sales of shore excursions with cruise bookings – more specifically, custom shore excursions.
TAMS involves financial and operational benchmarking for 120 agencies in North America, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. So when I ask for a new category of data input there have to be very good reasons.
In this case, the reasons are . . .
1. Creating and selling custom shore excursions gives agencies an opportunity to customize a product that has been trending towards commodity status.
Now before the hate mail and death threats start arriving from cruise line executives, let me acknowledge that there are meaningful differences in cruise lines and the ships within those lines.
Having said that, once the consumer has selected a cruise line and ship, we are talking about a package product that can be, and often is, shopped widely.
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While professional travel counselors do make a difference for cruise customers, there is less opportunity to do so than when selling land-based vacation travel.
Makes it memorable
Selling custom shore excursions that utilize the travel counselor’s destination knowledge and agency destination relationships create a custom “wrap” for a package product. It’s a powerful way for travel agencies to add value to the purchase equation.
In contrast to the group shore excursions sold by some cruise lines – 30 people on a bus for three stops at souvenir shops – custom shore excursions can create the unique experiences that become the most memorable part of the client’s cruise.
The returning customer will credit their travel counselor for creating or delivering the experience – and that experience is what they will end up talking about to friends and family upon their return.
Think this isn’t all that important?
A recent cruise line study revealed that only 30% of repeat passengers who bought a cruise from a travel agency returned to buy another cruise from that same agency. In short, 70% of the customers liked the cruise enough to buy again – but they credited the cruise line for the experience more than their travel counselor.
2. Selling custom shore excursions can be extremely lucrative, in an environment where agency yields on cruise sales have been declining.
Many TAMS members have been shifting their marketing emphasis away from cruises and toward land-based vacations because they see the yield as better. Custom shore excursions can change this equation dramatically.
In fact, one TAMS member recently told me, “The only reason I have to sell a cruise anymore is to get a chance to sell shore excursions.”
His agency consistently generates more revenue per cruise passenger from customer shore excursions than from cruise commissions!
In sum, while there may be reasons that some travel counselors shy away from selling custom shore excursions, I can’t see what they might be.
Robert W. Joselyn is president & CEO of Joselyn, Tepper & Associates and Travel Agency Management Solutions (TAMS). Contact Joselyn at rjoselyn@TAMS-Data.com.
