在肯·马斯卡特(Ken Muskat)的风景和祖母绿邮轮计划的最前沿交易
byDori Saltzman/长期的巡航行业资深人士肯·马斯卡特(Ken Muskat)曾经认为河流巡航很无聊,并且仅适用于缓慢的老年旅行者。随着大船巡航的悠久历史,马斯卡特无法想象在较小的船上巡游会很有趣。今天,他担任美国风景秀集团董事总经理的新职务已经两个月了,他对未来以及交易在其中的位置并不感到兴奋。
Muskat's first experiences with river cruising weren't with Scenic or Emerald but those experiences did pave the way for an enthusiasm for smaller ships that is evident even over the phone.
"I went with a group of family and friends, many who worked in the big cruise ship industry and all of us had doubts going on a river cruise and all of us were completely blown away after the first one, which is why we booked a second one," he told Travel Market Report.
“这与我想的是如此不同。我有一个典型的看法,只是给那些疲倦和懒惰的老人。船上有年轻人。这很冒险。这很令人兴奋。非常适合与船员和其他客人建立关系,因为人数很少。”
快进了几年,马斯卡特(Muskat)热衷于向更多的旅行顾问介绍小型船舶巡航(无论是河还是游艇式的海船),尤其是小型船上的巡游,风景秀丽和翡翠巡游。
无限潜力的“正确”贸易
“我在一开始是在2023年最激动人心的一年之初就开始的,随着新风景秀丽的海洋船和一艘新的翡翠海船。一年,这总是令人兴奋的。”他说。
但是,随着新硬件的发展,更多的泊位可以填补,而马斯卡特的首要任务是使更多的顾问熟悉并出售完整的风景和翡翠巡游投资组合。
他说:“这些品牌有一个难以置信的机会。”“我们意识到,对于旅行顾问和顾问,我们还需要进行很多教育,我们需要上船并查看产品或实际上体验产品,因此他们真的知道我们必须提供什么以及使我们独一无二的东西。”
但是马斯卡特说,与以前的邮轮公司(即皇家加勒比和MSC Cruises)不同,他的重点不是铸造最广泛的网。
"As we increase capacity, we need to make sure that we're further penetrating the North American market, By no means are we where we need to be and that is a big focus for me, really understanding who is the right trade to go after… I need to focus on the right trade. I need luxury sellers that have luxury clientele to sell small ships, luxury yachts and river cruises to."
"Our owners on depending on this market [North America] to be the largest market for Scenic and Emerald and to drive so much demand that we have no choice but to continue adding more ships," he added.
重点关注旅行顾问
Among his top priorities are driving brand awareness and demand for the Scenic brands, ensuring they're easy to do business with, and that the contact center and sales team have all the information and resources needed to help advisors sell.
"Our number one [priority] is support for the travel advisors and driving exciting engagement amongst the trade."
他补充说,目前,他的团队正在计划其贸易沟通策略以及营销和销售计划。
“为了使他们与我们取得成功,我们需要对他们进行教育,我们需要激励他们,我们需要他们体验我们的产品,我们需要他们在客户摆脱客户时对他们的客户的反馈感到非常满意我们的产品。对我来说最好的是毫无疑问,当客户摆脱风景秀丽或翡翠时,他们会喜欢它。”
Muskat said Scenic and Emerald Cruises plan to do "a lot more trade engagement" throughout the year.
“我们正在制定一项更广泛的战略计划,以了解我们如何在交易中代表我们的品牌,以及我们如何参与想要了解我们并确保我们提供支持的行业。我们正在为他们提供所需的支持,并以最快,最佳方式为他们提供服务,并使其易于与我们合作,并为他们提供服务。”
He added that his team is already working with some regional consortiums and has plans to work with larger consortiums, as well.
"We are constantly out there doing webinars and doing road shows and participating in conferences and working with CLIA and ASTA."
No Success without Travel Advisors
在一家专门从事小船巡航的公司中担任角色是Muskat的新工作时,他认为自己在该公司的角色与过去所做的事情一样。他表现出色 - 填补了不断增长的能力和建立品牌知名度。
"There's a lot of similarities… when I look back at the work I had to do at Royal Caribbean, which was at a time that the company was going through tremendous growth. Then I worked in Shanghai with a company that was the underdog that had to grow significantly… MSC was trying to penetrate the North American market in a big way. Low brand awareness, lots of growth, big ambitions for the future. Scenic and Emerald are very similar in that regard."
他补充说,所有这些角色的真正共同点是交易。
"The trade continues to play the most integral role in our success," adding that travel advisors have always been a critical element of his own success.
"With growth, travel advisors are critical. I've always depended on travel advisors when I've needed them to help me raise brand awareness and differentiation amongst the brands… I've always been extremely supportive and dependent on travel advisors in all the brands that I've worked for, as different as they all are."
他补充说,今天没有什么不同。
"I continue to need them more than ever to get the message out, because once again, I'm in a brand that has low brand awareness, a huge opportunity in the North American market and huge guest satisfaction. I just need more travel advisors to be promoting us and selling us and learning about us. They remain more critical than ever for me once again."
Advisors can reach out to Muskat at Ken.Muskat@Scenicusa.com.