TMP Toronto Wraps Up with a Focus on Building Caribbean and Cruise Business

Travel Market Place (TMP) East, the largest-ever TMP and the signature travel trade conference from the TMR team, wrapped up its 2024 edition Wednesday after two jam-packed days with a record crowd of travel advisors in Toronto.  

The conference, which was celebrating its 10th anniversary, welcomed advisors back to the Delta Hotel on Wednesday for a second day of content, networking, and celebration of the Canadian travel industry.  

After a big day one, here’s a small taste of what happened on stage on day two. 

Caribbean is outpacing rest of the world 
In a session led by Nikita France, the CEO of Social Jet and Travel Agent Collective, travel advisors spoke about the opportunity that lies ahead in the Caribbean with airlift, and interest, rising.  

“The Caribbean seems like the first thing anyone always starts selling,” Andrea Nadon of Frontliners Travel Group said on stage. “Usually, it’s what most clients come to you for. It’s just one giant treasure chest, with rubies, and pearls, and diamonds.”  

One of the bigger messages of the panel was that the Caribbean is not just a collection of destinations all grouped together in a region but is instead a destination in itself. Advisors need to recognize that.  

“We tend to send clients to the same islands over and over again, it’s amazing that we don’t get our clients all over. I always say we need to start thinking of the Caribbean like Hawaii,” Nadon added.  

“When you send someone to Hawaii, you say ‘a minimum of two weeks’ and you say, ‘just don’t stay on Maui or on one island.’ We encourage them to island hop. We should be doing that with the Caribbean.”  

For another panelist, Camille Wilson of Adventures with Camille, advisors should also look more locally for inspiration for clients and realize that there’s a wealth of things to see and do beyond the doors of a client’s all-inclusive.  

“I had some clients in Jamaica who rented a car in Negril and went to see waterfalls and the rum estate. It was an incredible way to see the country,” she said.  

“We have to get past that ‘it’s not safe.’ Safety is important, but doing those added little things where we get more immersed in the culture, like stopping at the fruit stand and the rum shops, is the perfect way to experience that culture.” 

Pauline Blacoe of Shine Travel added that her clients are wanting to do just that—venture deeper into the Caribbean and deeper into the islands. Part of that is because she, herself, is doing that, and sharing it on social media.  

“These people are my friends on Facebook, they follow me on my personal page and my business page. When I travel, everyone is like ‘where is she going next because I want to see this picture,’” she said.  

“It helps them in their mind dream because I have been to those destinations and they think I am your friend and I want to experience that, too.”  

Blacoe’s biggest tip for sharing on social media is simply don’t post a photo—instead, make it a story and “talk to each picture.” 

The biggest misconceptions in the cruise industry  
In a panel led by TMR’s Dori Saltzman, executives from the cruise industry dished on what non-cruise consumers think about cruising, and why they are wrong.  

For contemporary ships, for example, many consumers who might not have experienced a ship yet have a perception of being hemmed in.  

“I’ve been on six cruises this year and not one of them have I felt hemmed in on,” Katie Kania, the national director of sales and marketing at Norwegian Cruise Line said.  

There’s also a misconception that cruising is only for a certain age demographic, she added.  

“The other thing is that millennials and Gen Z and Gen X are not our cruise audience. They don’t think they are our cruise audience, but they are,” she said.  

For expedition cruises, a lot of consumers might have the assumption that they need to be active or they need to have a desire to do something out of the box—that’s incorrect, according to Lindblad’s Cara Matthew.  

“I am calling it more exploration than expedition, I can assure you that there is a little something for everyone,” she said.  

Matthew also spoke on the Drake Passage, something a lot of consumers are scared off of when considering Antarctica cruises. There are ways to avoid it, including opting for one of the direct programs that lets cruisers fly over it and fly back, instead. But she added that for some, “we just have to embrace the experience of where we are.”  

For luxury cruises, there’s the misconception that it’s unaffordable, which may hold true if you think of doing a luxury sailing every year, but that’s not who sails on the luxury ships.  

“The kind of customer you can look for us is a 50-plus, not necessarily retired, but likes to live well,” Regent Seven Seas’ Beverly Vickers said. “Someone who might not be able to afford Regent every year, understanding their priorities, is still someone for us. If people like or aspire to be in that kind of intimate environment, if they want to be spoiled, they’re a luxury guest.”  

There’s also the idea that luxury is stuffy and maybe a tad too formal, which, again, is wrong.  

Some of that luxury idea also bleeds into the river cruise industry, which has its own history of being thought of as stuffy and maybe just for one, older, demographic.  

“People always thought river cruising was for that older clientele and our owners wanted to do something about it,” AmaWaterways’ Neil Dudley said. “We took a different direction. We’ve got entertainment going on each and every evening. We have a whole range of activities that are included from gentle paced ones to active ones.   

“Ocean cruising has different products for different people, and that is the same for river cruising,” he said.  

Having the language, and the know-how, to battle these misconceptions is going to be key for advisors to build their cruise business and earn repeat bookings. There are also value questions that advisors can address when talking to new-to-cruise.  

“It’s super important to understand what a client really needs,” Virgin Voyages’ Sean Russo said. “The newer advisors should have a checklist, an intake form that you’re offering to clients that helps you understand their needs and wants.”  

And if price point becomes a factor? Ask your client what they are willing to live without onboard, and that will inform them of just how much value they can get on a cruise.  

“Nine out of ten times people aren’t going to cut things,” he said.