Selecting a destination for the annual Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) conference comes down to quite simple criteria. It must be a win-win for both the country and the association, as well as provide an opportunity for the cruise executives who attend to profit from doing so, according to Michele Paige.
“The cruise industry has to be able to be educated by the destination; there must be opportunities for the cruise executives to expand on their knowledge base and to profit from being there, as well as for the country to grow, otherwise we not going to waste our time or the destination’s time,” she says. “We believe it’s a huge honour to choose a destination as our conference site because what we’re saying is that you are a good partner to the cruise industry. You’re going to profit by how you are holding the conference and we are going to profit by you holding the conference, so it’s a win-win.”
Colombia – and in particular, the cruise capital Cartagena – clearly fits the bill, with the cruise association holding its annual conference there in October 2013. “Cartagena is shaping up to be one of our biggest and best conferences,” adds Adam Ceserano. “We think that Cartagena is going to be some of the largest attendance we have ever had – around ten to 15 per cent for this conference. Kevin Sheehan [CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line] said it’s such a unique destination and has much to offer, so I think it’s a great draw just for the conference itself.”
Paige continues: “The first time that I visited Colombia, I went kicking and screaming. As an American I watch the news and I was afraid I was going to be running into drug cartels with Uzis. Although I’m a world traveller, Colombia was not on my horizon as a cruising destination. So when I had the privilege of being escorted around with then president, Álvaro Uribe, and we went to Cartagena, I was blown away by how unique, how upscale and how safe it is! Within the first couple of hours I was running off by myself, leaving everybody eating and drinking, because I wanted to go shopping. That’s what destinations have to understand. They have to represent who they are in everything they put forward – their people, their customs, their food, their dress, their shore excursions and their shopping. Colombia does it all.
“By holding the conference in Colombia we are also educating ourselves,” she continues. “Colombia had zero ships, but within two years it began appearing on itineraries again, because they dispelled the myth. It’s a large country and there is an issue, but that might be in the mountains far from tourists and residents – one thing we fail to be educated on is how big the countries are and how far away you are from where problems are being reported.”
Wherever the location, the people-to-people opportunity the conference offers is more important than ever. Nearly 100 cruise executives interfacing with a destination’s public and private sectors, to share information and take the next step in creating a business relationship, has new significance in a period of rebuilding, as Paige explains: “Over the last six months there have been more changes in government than I have seen in my entire career so this is a time of rebuilding. Although we have long-established relationships in all the destinations, when you have a change in government it’s very important that there is a current relationship. The Caribbean is extremely important to the cruise industry and with the present opinion and attitude in Europe, it’s become more important. This is the time to have the cruise industry rebuild and have the destinations put the ‘wow’ back in. One of the biggest challenges is that the cruise industry has such long-established relationships with the destinations and a lot of passengers have visited before, so the destinations feel comfortable. Shore excursions have fallen off and that’s a real concern of the industry, because it’s a direct correlation – passenger satisfaction is increased a tremendous amount if they go on an organised shore excursion and decreased if they don’t.”
The FCCA has put a lot of work into the requirements of the shore excursions with long-established training programmes that include those for taxi drivers and shopkeepers and education on the benefits of the cruise industry. “But one of the biggest factors now is how we elevate the tours,” Paige says. “It’s through educating the tour guides, having them at a much higher level with the required insurance in place, having the cruise lines vet the tours, look at the vehicles, check the water transportation and anything that touches the passenger. Shore excursions use providers that have contracts with the cruise line and are providing a superior service and it’s about communicating to the cruise industry that the reason the price might be higher is because you’re getting that superior service and insurance. You’re getting that security that the vehicles are not going to break down.
“We know that in a destination like in Central America, probably more than 60 per cent of shore excursions are sold onboard, while those sold onboard in some of the Caribbean destinations are around 30 per cent or lower, so we’re definitely educating our destination partners and communicating with our shore excursion providers. For me it comes down to three words: appreciation, competitiveness and product – appreciation of each other, the need for destinations to be competitive because the cruise industry is competitive and, therefore, constantly re-evaluating our product. We know that people scrutinise their budgets and we have to provide value for money, so the destinations have to reflect on that. Our economic impact study showed that people are spending a lot of money – not because they have to, but because they want to. That means you have to offer them things they want to spend money on. They want unique products, the things they can’t get back at home. Gone are the days of people getting off and buying Rolex watches. They’re going to shop on the internet for those.”
However, the message Paige gives the FCCA’s destination partners is that the Caribbean is still the number one sought-after destination in terms of perception and for that reason it is essential that they keep pace with global competition. She says: “Sometimes they’re competing with their neighbouring destinations but they need to keep pace with what the consumer’s needs are and deliver that. That’s one of the reasons our platinum membership is so strong. Destinations learn from each other and that doesn’t mean copying each other, but keeping up with what’s going on in the world. As soon as the consumer arrives in your country you’re telling the story of your destination through everything you offer them. This is the good news about the cruise industry. We are spending a tremendous amount of money educating the consumer, whether they’re going to go on a cruise or not.”
Once the ships arrive the cruise line spend is enormous, including taxes, purchasing and employment, as well as sending crews to dentists and doctors while in port. “The tentacles go so deep that some destinations are shocked when they find that out,” Paige says. “A lot of them don’t think about the crew, which is such a missed opportunity. Ships’ crews spend a great deal of money, but not in the same way passengers do. For the most part, they’re not going to go on tours but will prefer to go somewhere to get away from the passengers – to eat and drink, spend money on incidentals, maybe do some banking, get a haircut, or get a massage.
“Passenger spending is a direct reflection of what greets them when they arrive, with spend ranging from US$30 to US$250, as a direct reflection of their experience,” she says. “The best news is that if you’ve given the cruise passengers super satisfaction, they want to come back and that’s what a lot of destinations don’t understand. Hoteliers understand that they are not in competition with us and that what we are doing is providing a familiarisation trip that costs them nothing.”
Despite industry and governmental challenges, and the need to strengthen the repeat appeal of Caribbean destinations, taking advantage of the depth of cruise experience within the FCCA is a low-risk option for its member ports, as Ceserano concludes: “Rick Sasso [USA president, MSC Cruises] was talking to us at the Central America conference and said that in the 40 years he’s worked in the cruise industry, no destination that’s partnered with us at the FCCA has ever said: ‘Oh, we listened to them and it didn’t work out’. By just listening to us, working with us and understanding the business, destinations have always come out ahead.”
This article appeared in the Autumn/Winter 2013 edition of International Cruise & Ferry Review. To read other articles, you can subscribe to the magazine in printed or digital formats.