<\/p>\n
Cruise growth is being shaped by earlier bookings, changing seasonality, demand for immersive experiences, and increasingly tailored products for travellers, a panel of experts inform a packed room at Australasia\u2019s biggest cruise industry event, Cruise360 Australasia, which opened at ICC Sydney today.<\/strong><\/p>\n In front of an audience around 900 Australian and New Zealand members of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) who had gathered from across the region, the first session, The World View, offered up visiting global cruise line leaders who shared where cruise demand is, offered insights into product development and consumer behaviour, and what these global trends mean for travel advisors.<\/p>\n Among the panellists were Quark Expeditions president Sam Seward, Windstar Cruises managing director \u2013 Global Commercial, Helen Beck, Azamara Cruises chief international sales officer David Siewers, Swan Hellenic Cruises chief commercial officer Mario Bounas, and Norwegian Cruise Line\u2019s chief sales & marketing officer International, Jason Krimmel.<\/p>\n As CLIA\u2019s first expanded two-day conference held at ICC Sydney, this year\u2019s event has been designed to help travel advisors capitalise on the trends and opportunities of a growing international cruise sector, under the theme \u201cFuture Ready. Client Ready. Cruise Ready.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the market trends discussed were stronger APAC demand for premium cabins, longer itineraries, and bookings made further in advance for polar expedition travel, with Beck highlighting a shift in European seasonality: July and August are becoming shoulder months, while April\u2013June and September\u2013October are selling earlier; European winter cruising is also gaining appeal.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no longer peak season in July and August. It\u2019s shoulder season, almost,\u201d Beck said. \u201cThose shoulder seasons, we see those selling out first.\u201d<\/p>\n Krimmel emphasised cruise\u2019s value during inflation and economic uncertainty, while Siewers cited bookings up 70% year over year for 2028 and ahead for 2027.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are actually up 70 per cent versus same time last year for 2028,\u201d Siewers said. \u201cBut we\u2019re actually ahead on 2027 as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Bounas said expedition cruising is widening beyond polar regions, attracting younger and broader audiences through warm-weather destinations, cultural immersion, and citizen-science programs.<\/p>\n With global demand projected to reach 42 million cruise passengers by 2029, 84 ships on order and 230,000 additional beds by 2039 and about one-third of new ships will carry fewer than 1,000 passengers, panellists described a progression from larger, family-oriented ships toward smaller and highly specialised products, while noting that \u201csmall ship\u201d lacks a consistent industry definition.<\/p>\n Luxury is increasingly defined by immersion, access to experts, frequent Zodiac landings, cultural depth, and comfortable facilities rather than comfort alone.<\/p>\n \u201cLuxury has become about immersion,\u201d said Seward. \u201cIt\u2019s about having the right access to Zodiacs, you can get off the vessel more frequently, having the right access to globally respected experts in history, in marine biology.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the true definition of new expedition travel luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n Destination quality is being measured by the number of ports, time in port, late nights, and overnights. One brand expects 87% of its 2028 time to be in port, with more than half involving late stays or overnights.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The second panel, The Great Debate: Is AI the Greatest Opportunity the Cruise Trade Has Ever Seen? pitted two teams against each other for one of the biggest questions facing the cruise trade: is AI the greatest opportunity travel advisors have ever seen?<\/p>\n Panellists included for the affirmative HX Expeditions director of sales Australia & New Zealand, Amber Wilson, Carnival Cruise Line national sales manager Mark Richards and Steve Labroski, CEO, itravel Australia.<\/p>\n For the alternative view were travel industry mentor Stephanie Myers of The Stephanie Myers Academy, Princess Cruises head of marketing Chloe Jones and Virtuoso general manager, Australia & New Zealand, Kara Glamore.<\/p>\n The second panel, The Great Debate: Is AI the Greatest Opportunity the Cruise Trade Has Ever Seen? pitted two teams against each other for one of the biggest questions facing the cruise trade: is AI the greatest opportunity travel advisors have ever seen?<\/p>\n Opening for the affirmative, Labroski told the room AI was \u201cnot about replacing the advisor\u201d but about giving agents back the one thing they can never create more of: time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can always find more clients, we can always sell more cruises, we can always add more products, but we\u2019ve never been able to create more time \u2013 until now,\u201d he said, describing his own \u201cAI dream team\u201d of assistants named Joel, Peter, Marita and Kate, which handle everything from itinerary building to invoicing and compliance.<\/p>\n \u201cAI does not replace the advisor. AI amplifies the travel advisor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Wilson picked up the theme in her rebuttal, arguing that \u201cAI doesn\u2019t replace the captain; it finally gives every advisor a crew.\u201d She said the industry\u2019s real constraint had never been demand but capacity: \u201cThere are only so many hours in the day, only so many quotes you can build, and only so many clients you can personally talk to.\u201d Her closing line drew a laugh from the room: \u201cThe future isn\u2019t humans versus AI. It\u2019s humans with AI versus humans without it.\u201d<\/p>\n Closing for the affirmative, Richards put a number on the time savings, estimating that \u201cif AI saves you 15 minutes a day, and you\u2019ve got five agents in your agency, that\u2019s nearly two months of selling time every single year.\u201d He likened the technology to a rising tide: \u201cIt lifts every single agency in this room\u2026 but it only carries the captains who have bothered to raise their sails.\u201d<\/p>\n For the alternative, Glamore opened by drawing a distinction between novelty and value.<\/p>\n \u201cI think too often we confuse the newest opportunity with the greatest opportunity,\u201d she said, arguing that \u201cAI can provide answers, but advisors provide wisdom and good judgment, and those two are not the same thing.\u201d She closed with a line from Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch: \u201cYou can automate the predictable, but you cannot humanise the exceptional.\u201d<\/p>\n Myers took a more personal angle, warning the industry was \u201cdrowning in an absolute AI slop fest online\u201d and that overreliance risked advisors\u2019 creativity, confidence and authenticity. \u201cEvery time you let AI speak for you, your clients get to see a little less of you,\u201d she said, urging advisors to \u201clet AI do all the boring stuff, but\u2026 keep something sacred for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n Closing for the alternative, Jones argued the affirmative team had proven utility rather than greatness. \u201cIf everyone has access to essentially the same technology, the technology itself can\u2019t be the competitive advantage. You are,\u201d she said, pointing instead to the aircraft as cruising\u2019s true transformative moment: \u201cThe airplane didn\u2019t make the cruise trade 20% more efficient. It opened the world and expanded our market.\u201d<\/p>\n The affirmative team led the opening Slido vote 62 per cent to 38 per cent, but the alternative team clawed back 3 per cent of the room over the course of the debate and won the adjudicated result. Both teams were praised for their (AI) preparation and bravery, and the Great Debate trophy went to the alternative side \u2013 Glamore, Myers and Jones.<\/p>\n The sessions were the first of a packed two-day program at A<\/a>ustralasia\u2019s biggest cruise industry event which opened at ICC Sydney today<\/a>, with around 900 members of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) gathering from across the region for the event, under the theme \u201cFuture Ready. Client Ready. Cruise Ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n kabarsula SLOT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cruise growth is being shaped by earlier bookings, changing seasonality, demand for immersive experiences, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kabarsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Market trends<\/h2>\n
Product evolution<\/h2>\n
AI amplifies<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Vs AI slop fest<\/strong><\/h2>\n