7 0 PL ANNER PERSPECTI VE Germany-based river and ocean cruise operator Nicko Cruises’ motto is to create itineraries that offer guests “more experiences, enjoyed in comfort” in destinations such as the Arctic, Baltic Sea, Northern and Western Europe, the Mediterranean and West Africa. The company has renewed its commitment to achieving this goal with vigour ever since its ocean vessels World Voyager and Vasco Da Gama returned to the seas in April and July 2021 respectively. “I’m very proud and happy that we have been back in operation for several months,” says Guido Laukamp, chief commercial officer at Nicko Cruises. “Despite many changes and other hinderances, both ships have sailed multiple safe cruises and we’ve had many happy guests.” Laukamp attributes the success of Nicko Cruises’ safe return to operations to his team’s tenacious efforts to continue building consumer confidence and travel agent loyalty throughout the pandemic. “I’m confident that our hard work will also pay off financially in the mid-term,” he says. “In addition, I cannot express enough how grateful we are to the destinations and ports that convinced decision makers it was a good idea to receive our guests and did a great job to ensure safe operations when our ships arrived. “I also want to thank our travel agent partners in our source markets who promoted cruising as a safe holiday option and encouraged consumers to come and cruise with us – often via lastminute bookings.” To drive consumer demand for these cruises, Nicko Cruises has developed several itineraries that incorporate maiden calls at new ports and destinations. For example, both Vasco Da Gama and World Voyager visited the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores for the first time this year. “The islands are impressively diverse, which allowed us to offer guests exciting experiences in a destination that only a few cruise operators visit,” says Laukamp. “We Guido Laukamp tells Rebecca Gibson how Nicko Cruises develops diverse itineraries with multiple shore excursions for all types of guests Something for everyone Vasco Da Gama made Nicko Cruises’ first calls to the Azores and Cape Verde in 2021
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=