One-third of British holidaymakers have no intention whatsoever of going on a cruise holiday despite the tens of millions of pounds spent by the industry on prime-time TV advertising, sponsorship and celebrity endorsement, reveals the World Travel Market Industry Report 2013, released today (Monday 4 November).
When asked, one-in-three British holidaymakers (32%) replied that they "haven't been on a cruise holiday and would not like to."
According to media analyst Nielsen, the cruise shipping sector will spend £14.3m on TV advertising in the UK this year. In 2012, the TV total came in at £7.7m; in 2011 it was £8.6m and in 2010 £6.2m.
Nielsen statistics also reveal that between 2010 and 2013, the total media spend for cruise - including press, TV, direct mail, cinema - came in at around £285m. Press is by far its biggest spend, accounting for £134m over the four-year period.
The cruise industry is very active promoting itself to the UK travel agency community.
With one-in-three Brits showing no positive intent towards cruising, the sector can take some comfort from other responses. Two-in-five (39%) of British holidaymakers who have not been on a cruise have been seduced by the marketing push and would be interested in trying a cruise. This latent demand represents a significant opportunity.
However, WTM's research also found that a small percentage - 6% - admitted that they had been on a cruise but did not enjoy the experience. For this group, the marketing has worked but the product and experience has fallen short.
Finally, around a quarter of the sample (23%) said they had been on a cruise and enjoyed it.
For its fourth World Travel Market Industry Report, WTM asked a nationally representative sample of 1001 UK holidaymakers a number of questions about their travel habits. All 1,001 respondents had been on a holiday of at least seven days during the previous twelve months.
Reed Travel Exhibitions, Senior Director, World Travel Market, Simon Press noted: "The cruise industry needs to decide whether it should try to convert the latent demand from people who are interested or continue to try to create that demand with a significant media spend.
"Failing to interest one-in-three holidaymakers after a vigorous marketing push is disappointing, but there is still enough demand for the industry to get its teeth into."
