They hope to barrage consumers with 5.5 billion messages about cruising this year through advertising and public relations. That's up from 4.2 billion in 1999. Instead of concentrating most of their advertising and PR firepower in January, they are spreading it throughout the year. The cruise association also has beefed up its marketing to travel agents. That's a wise move.
Travel agents sell nearly all the cruises.
And the agents are reeling from commission cuts by the airlines and are looking for new kinds of revenues. So, the cruise industry is flooding travel agents with brochures, manuals, descriptions of 300 ports called on by ships, tips on decorating travel agencies, training videos and the like. It's all designed to sell more cruises to that cruise virgin. So far, it has. Of course, the cruise industry must walk a fine line between expansion and overcapacity.