Become a Home Based Travel Agent

DEMOGRAPHICS & PSYCHOGRAPHICS
OCEANS OF PROFITS IN
WORLDWIDE DESTINATION CRUISE SALES
Follow the trends and dramatically enhance your profitability

By: Mitchell J. Schlesinger
President
MJS Consultants
mjschlesinger@bellsouth.net

This series of articles has been specifically designed to highlight the importance of  understanding demographics and psychographics.  By applying them as you evaluate the composition of your cruise target market, you should achieve the goal of selling more cruises, earn higher commissions and do so in a way that is effective, efficient and more profitable.

The most significant demographic trend, as discussed in the articles about the Graying of America and Baby Boomers is the dramatic aging of the population.  Commensurate with this aging phenomena is the psychographic trend of wanting more interesting travel experiences  And these trends, present one of the best opportunities to sell more worldwide destination travel:

1. The fastest growing segments of the population are Baby Boomers and Seniors/retirees.  Over 40% of the population is over 50, life expectancy is expanding and by 2020 there will be over 70 million Americans over the age of 65.

2. These 2 segments control more than 70% of consumer spending and have significant amounts of disposable income to spend on travel.  They are value conscious concerned more that the overall content of their purchase is commensurate with the price.

3. As empty nesters and in many cases DINKS (double income no kids), they are not bound by traditional travel timeframes and in fact can purposely avoid traditionally crowded travel seasons.  In fact, these are excellent targets for “off season” spring and fall travel.

4. Psychographically, they are more concerned with experiences that are meaningful, enriching, fulfilling and memorable.  Many have already visited core destinations and are ready for new adventures to places like Vietnam, South America, Australia, Antarctica and more.

5. And best of all, they book travel well in advance, are interested in traveling for lengthy periods of time and spend much more than Gen X & Y groups.

The cruise lines have done their part by offering itineraries to all seven continents and by expanding more in depth itineraries in the most popular destinations.  An excellent example is the growth of European river cruising which gives clients who have sailed the Baltic and east and west Mediterranean, the opportunity to immerse themselves into individual  countries within these regions. 

Your opportunity is to take full advantage of the myriad of worldwide cruise destination products and “manage” the travel experiences of your clients as they get older: 

1. Recognize the aging trends in your own clientele, and guide them through the selection of longer and more interesting trips as they age. 

2. The main difference between younger baby boomers and seniors/retirees is the length of time they have to travel.  Baby Boomers still in the workforce will want to cap travel in the 10-14 day range.  Seniors/retirees are prime targets for longer trips, including world cruises.  In fact they prefer to be onboard for longer periods of time, so look for cruise lines that offer back-to-back itinerary opportunities with no port duplication. 

3. Access available resources to enhance your own worldwide destination expertise so your clients will recognize this skill when discussing travel alternatives and sending them communication.

4. Most importantly is the development of  marketing materials to entice them to purchase these trips, the detail provided and the questions you “pre-answer”.  Be cognizant of the following:

* These target segments are better educated, want extensive detail about trips and are willing to read in depth, so direct mail is a valuable method of communication.

* Key messages must convey:

* It’s all about the destination experience. You are enticing your clients to travel across the globe to experience a memorable destination.

* Value not price

* Discovery and exploration, not the ordinary

* Education and fulfillment, not status or hype

* Action, not passivity

5. Make sure to plan the distribution of your communication well in advance (6-12 months) of the travel being offered. 

6. And don’t forget that you and your staff will need to provide a very high level of service in response to clients making extremely high ticket purchases.

It is “worth” your while to focus on these trends and become proficient at promoting worldwide destination cruises.  You can change the profile of your agency to one that is recognized as the expert in trips of this nature and earning commissions on a steady diet of transactions of $5,000-$20,000.  And imagine booking a group of 20 on a world cruise!!  You can influence the travel purchased by your clients as they age and in return, be rewarded with dramatically higher commissions and substantially stronger profitability.