低邮轮价格会影响旅行顾问吗?
byDori Saltzman/从名人到七晚的巡游低至399美元。从荷兰美洲线的克鲁斯票价折扣50%。处女航行巡航的百分之四十。NCL巡游和第三名和第四位客人享受35%的折扣,每位仅需99美元。
一些分析师说,这几乎从来没有比2022年的其余时间更便宜。而2023年也可能会受到影响。
“While 2023 pricing is holding for now as it is still seven months out from the first 2023 departures, 2023 cumulative booking pace continues to decelerate and is significantly below comparable 2019 levels,” said Truist analyst Patrick Scholes in a note last month. “Unless the 2023 pace reverses trend, we believe significant price/promotional activity will be needed to fill the ships, a similar scenario to what is occurring in 2022.”
但是,这对旅行顾问意味着什么?
Travel Market Report reached out to several cruise sellers to see what impact, if any, the lower prices are having on their business. The answers weren’t as consistent as you might expect.
“情况很棒。” Avoya网络中的独立机构We Book Travel,LLC的所有者Jesse Morris说,他的美元销售量在5月1日至6月15日之间的销售量几乎是2019年的三倍。这些都不是通过未来的旅行学分,因为我的投资组合已经被预订了。当前的费率环境结合了那些坐在场边等待旅行而无法旅行的人正在驱动大量量。在过去的两年之后,这是非常需要的。”
Another Avoya-member agency owner, Penny Rushing, owner of Four Points Travel, agreed.
“The cruise lines have lowered the cruise fare a bit from what the prices have previously been to initiate interest in cruising again. My gross sales last year were the highest during my five years with Avoya. This year, I’m running about 20-25% ahead of that pace.”
While Morris said he does see how lower rates are means lower overall profits, he doesn’t look at it that way. “I see this is a marathon and not a sprint. I am earning new clients who will book with me year after year and refer more people to me. This is very good for my business overall.”
更多的工作
Other advisors TMR spoke with said the low cruise prices are making booking management more difficult and time consuming.
邮轮计划者特许经营者的所有者理查德·斯蒂夫(Richard Stieff)说:“在进行Covid之前,我们没有处理如此多的价格降低。”“他们回来了,这是全部令人沮丧的,”尤其是因为顾问和邮轮公司一直在提倡预订越早的想法,价格就越好。“已经有一段时间了 - 到目前为止。”
Rhonda Day, owner of a Dream Vacations franchise, agreed. “Booking and servicing clients takes a significant amount of time now… lots of second-guessing. Lots of rechecking, etc.”
But Amy Madsen, also an owner of a Dream Vacations, said many of the lowest priced sailings are close-in bookings that actually take very little time.
“They pretty much have the cruise picked out and are handing it to us to confirm best pricing and to make the payment. It’s a quick sale,” she said.
Less Money
当前的情况让人联想到Covid-19的早期,当时顾问日复一日地工作以取消和重新预订Cruises而没有得到他们的工作报酬。
“We are again in a situation where we are working and putting more time into a booking for a reduced compensation,” Stieff said. “Most times after final payment, we cannot just adjust the pricing, we have to call in and have it manually adjusted by the cruise line. This can mean hours on hold.”
尽管如此,即使预订不够付的钱,也要预订预订比没有预订要好。
“Don’t get me wrong,” Stieff told TMR. “I’m so thankful to be having these kinds of problems vs. the ‘season is cancelled’ issues we faced the last two years.”
Better than No Bookings/No Commission
Justin Smith, president of The Evolved Traveler, a member of Ensemble Travel Group, agreed.
“I look at it this way, lower commissions right now beat the ‘no commission’ days we were all experiencing in 2020 and 2021. I think this is another way we ride this out right now. The cruise industry has always been good partners to the advisor community, and now we need to help each other get back on our respective feet.”
Smith also told TMR that being a member of a consortia, franchise or national host group can help mitigate some of the losses that come from lower pricing, because these groups usually give agencies and advisors access to higher commission rates.
最终,Rushing said, the low commission rates are balanced out by the larger numbers of bookings. “With the lower cruise fare prices that are being offered, I am doing the same amount of work for obviously slightly less commission per sale, but as noted above, my overall number of sales are higher.