| Aussies hold their nerve

DESPITE ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East, the appetite for cruising from Australians has remained steadfast and upbeat throughout the crisis, VP sales & GM, APAC for Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises Lisa Pile has observed.

Speaking with Cruise Weekly at the Virtuoso forum in Auckland, Pile relayed that her recent interactions with agents and consumers showed a buoyancy of confidence for cruising.

“Australians and Kiwis are very resilient travellers, they want to continue to travel because it is their rite of passage every year to go to places like Europe in summer,” Pile explained.

“[Interactions] at the Virtuoso forum have really reassured me that there is optimism there, people still want to travel.”

One of the big challenges facing some RSSC and Oceania customers has been the need to re-route flights to arrive at their overseas departure ports.

While the present geopolitical situation is presenting some hurdles, Pile said that one of the advantages of being such a large organisation is having the resources to assist its partners and customers through the chaos.

“We have an air team in Miami and they have very kindly offered to assist us in finding alternative flights when needed,” she said.

Pile added that RSSC has attempted to be “proactive” in its approach to helping guests and advisors impacted by the conflict by providing as much flexibility with bookings as it can. AB