By
Rebecca Gibson |
Maltese shore operations company the SMS Group has experienced meteoric growth since it was first founded in Malta in the 1950s. Launched to offer shipping services, the company became a market leader in Malta, before expanding into the UK in 1996, Italy in 1998, Tunisia in 2005 and Demark in 2007.
Principally operating in the shipping industry, the firm also provides shore excursions for cruise lines and is heavily involved in insurance; ship and company registration; air, cargo and freight logistics; and conference handling. In addition, the company owns an English language school.
In 2012, SMS broke into the well established US cruise market when it opened a Miami office to enable it to provide ground handling, vessel turnaround and shore excursion services to some of the world’s largest global cruise operators. SMS began providing port agency and ground handling services for Norwegian Cruise Lines at both PortMiami and Port Everglades on 4 May and has since gained contracts with Disney Cruise Line, Prestige Cruise Holdings and MSC Cruises.
Continuing its rapid North American expansion, the company is set to open a second US office this October. “We are extremely proud that the SMS Group will start a new operation out of Houston, Texas, which will be servicing cruise lines from October 2014,” says SMS Group’s managing director Samuel Mifsud.
While SMS has primarily concentrated its efforts on entering the US market over the last couple of years, the company continues to retain a large focus on Malta. “Although Malta is an extremely price-sensitive market and fuel costs are continuously spiralling upward, we have managed to remain successful in the market,” Mifsud says. “The port of Valletta, located in Malta’s capital city, is still a very important hub in the Mediterranean so we aim to increase our shore excursions revenue, which will undoubtedly improve the overall cruise revenue.”
To this end, the company continues to develop its shore excursions programme. “Developing and marketing new ideas and enhancing our existing shore itineraries is also a crucial part of our business,” explains Mifsud. “We make it a priority to serve our repeat clients by offering exclusive and innovative excursions that can only be booked via cruise operators.”
Targeting new markets also features prominently on Mifsud’s agenda. “While SMS places great importance on handling cruises beyond the shores of our tiny island, we wouldn’t discount any interest in different markets,” he says. “The group has invested in a network of outlets, both in Malta and in other countries, to market and sell forms of travel with a focus on cruise holidays. I am very confident that with our current structure, we can easily continue to expand our business while maintaining the high standards and personalised services our customers have grown accustomed to.”
He adds: “Although we are constantly challenged to maintain the high service standards we offer to our customers, one of SMS Group’s key characteristics is that we remain fully committed to improving our existing ventures, even when we are expanding our business and entering new markets. We always provide value for money.”
Mifsud believes that SMS – and the cruise industry as a whole – can also benefit from the recent progress in IT and communications technology, which is enabling companies to reach customers in a new way. “Over the past 20 years, the revolution in digital technology has started to provide both unexpected challenges and opportunities for enterprises operating in the travel sector,” he explains. “Not only has it altered customer expectations, it has also changed the way we do business. I believe that the popularity of the cruise industry today owes part of its success to these constant changes and challenges.”
Looking to the future, Mifsud remains confident that SMS will remain resilient, whatever is happening in the industry. “In spite of current strong market forces, the ever-increasing competition and demands for ever-decreasing pricing structures, our past success fills me and the company board with confidence for the future,” he concludes. “The fact that we are involved in so many different sectors helps to drive our success and gives our employees the determination to achieve more. Reaching business goals is tough and holding on to that success is even tougher, but we are confident that we will meet these challenges because we have an excellent team of dedicated, reliable and efficient personnel.”
This article appeared in the Autumn/Winter 2014 edition of International Cruise & Ferry Review. To read other articles, you can subscribe to the magazine in printed or digital formats.