Qantas makes move into cruise market

Qantas has made its first foray into the cruise market after signing a long term commercial deal with online specialist Cruise Guru.

Qantas Cruises will go live on Qantas.com today and will be powered by Cruise Guru via its technology platform, Cruise Choice.

Product will feature 17 cruise lines and 10,000 itineraries and offer real time availability and instant confirmation. Qantas frequent flyer members will earn one point for every dollar spent.

The move, announced on board Celebrity Solstice yesterday in Sydney, is acknowledgement from Qantas that it should be tapping into a sector which has shown significant and consistent growth in Australia in recent years, both for domestic and international cruising.

A 12-month marketing campaign will begin today, initially focusing on the domestic market before turning to international cruising in March and April.

Promotions will also be launched based on where Qantas needs to promote its network.

Cruise Guru joint managing director, Justin Montgomery, said the partnership brings together the cutting edge technology of Cruise Choice, the cruising expertise of Cruise Guru and the extensive domestic and international network of Qantas and its codeshare partners.

“Cruising is the fastest growing sector in leisure and Qantas is looking for growth opportunities,” he said. “It will take time to build up to critical mass but this has enormous potential.”

Montgomery declined to reveal commercial arrangements of the deal or provide target sales figures.

He suggested the lack of sophisticated technology may have hindered an earlier entry into the market for Qantas, a problem he said will be solved by the Cruise Choice technology which also enables consumers to book their cabin of choice.

Montgomery acknowledged that an airline website may not be the natural booking channel for potential cruisers, but said increasing demand for the product presented future growth prospects.

“The same could have been said several years ago about [selling] hotels and car hire through airline websites. The reality is, this is another offering Qantas is putting into the marketplace to support its customers and frequent flyers,” Montgomery told Travel Today.

“Ultimately it rounds out a leisure offering from Qantas. They see it as another growth opportunity for their network.”

Cruise lines likes like Disney, which do not have much of a presence in Australia, could particularly benefit given its high brand awareness and the frequency of Qantas flights to the US, he added. 

In addition to providing online booking, Cruise Guru, which only launched in 2012, will provide a call centre for consumers who do not want to complete a booking online or who want advice and reassurance.

“People new to cruising will call the contact centre as maybe they are looking for confirmation about the itinerary and cruise brand,” Montgomery said, “They are going to want reinforcement and reaffirmation that they are making the right choice. That is important for the new cruiser.” 

Meanwhile, Cruise Guru will add river cruising to its site over the next two months with more product added as companies link to the Cruise Choice technology.

Management are also in talks with one domestic and two off-shore companies about powering their online booking platforms.