THE Luxury Travel Collection (LTC) has witnessed significant growth in the cruise sector over the past 12 months, GM Nikki Glading has revealed.
Speaking at the opening of LTC’s Product Showcase on Fri, Glading (pictured left with Flight Centre Travel Group global managing director luxury Danielle Galloway) pointed to cruise as one of the key growth sectors for the luxury travel house.
“Cruise has grown 19% year-on-year in ocean, 66% year-on-year in river, and 44% year-on-year in expedition,” she said.
Pressed on why cruise is such a high-growth sector for LTC, Glading said the sector’s top end is as diverse as ever.
“Luxury cruise used to be one mould, and now there is luxury cruise in all different segments,” Glading told Cruise Weekly on the sidelines of the conference.
“There’s now a luxury cruise for adventure travellers, there’s a luxury cruise for river cruise travellers, there’s luxury cruise for small ship,there’s luxury cruise for big ships.”
The opportunity available in the sector has seen LTC sharpen the cruise product available in its Galeries de Luxe portfolio, particularly with the experiences offered to members.
“Our members have some frustrations with the standard offering in the sort of amenity programs that are offered with other luxury consortia,” Glading explained to CW.
She said LTC doesn’t invite a partner to join its Cruises de Luxe product collection, part of Galeries de Luxe, unless they’re prepared to feature their included experiences on all of their voyages so that advisors “do not have to open a spreadsheet and try and see whether or not it’s included.”
“They’ve got the safety of knowing, because of our partnership, that cruise lines that join Cruises de Luxe, that experiential inclusion will be on every single voyage.”
Luxury travel is now one of the fastest-growing segments of the global economy, Glading added, with the market set to command $2 trillion globally by 2030.
The luxury sector, which has been booming since the pandemic, will not be slowing down this year, Glading said, with 76% of luxury travel advisors reporting a surge in demand for shoulder season travel.
“Clients are actively rejecting the crowds,” she said. MS
