3 8 Developing the ability to adapt and anticipate has been crucial for cruise brands in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Benoit Carassou-Maillan, vice president of product strategy and development at Ponant. The crisis has significantly impacted the way we design our itineraries,” he says. “Being able to quickly react to changes was key to survival in the short term and when restarting operations. We had to redesign most of our programmes in a more agile way knowing that our operations team might have to adapt them at very short notice. This was a big challenge and led to us restructuring our organisation to create dedicated teams to deal with the short-term itinerary adaptations and freeing up others to focus on the long-term thinking and prepare our future explorations.” The ability to anticipate new market trends and guest demand is also an essential skill to have in the post-pandemic world, according to Carassou-Maillan. “Most cruise lines took advantage of the pause in the operations to prepare future seasons and to anticipate their sales reopening, and we now need to plan three years in advance to secure the best berths,” he explains. “This period has been full of unexpected challenges, but it’s boosted the creativity of our teams and we’ve come up with new ideas that have driven the design of innovative activities and the exploration of new areas.” Ponant’s innovative new approach to long-term itinerary planning is empowering it to easily cater to everchanging guest expectations too. For example, the brand has identified a trend for guests to want to stay closer to home and has proactively developed itineraries to satisfy this demand. “While there’s still strong interest in the polar regions, we’ve noticed that the most dynamic regions are not necessarily the most remote ones,” says CarassouMaillan. “For example, cruises in the Kimberley region in Western Australia have been popular with Australians, while Americans are showing interest in the Great Lakes. Now that the US market has lower demand for cruises in the Baltics, voyages to the British Isles and Scandinavia seem to be more popular as well.” Meanwhile, the Mediterranean Sea has particularly strong appeal for guests in the Europe Union (EU). “The Mediterranean offers us extensive opportunities to design itineraries with intimate places and off-the-beaten-path experiences that are close to home,” says Carassou-Maillan. Guest expectations surrounding onshore experiences are changing too. “Although the destination is still the main driver for guests choosing a cruise, they are also looking for meaningful experiences that will enable them to fully engage with the places they visit,” says Carassou-Maillan. “They’re looking for authenticity, so we provide educational experiences, moments of cultural discovery, opportunities to taste local cuisine, and much more. This is particularly noticeable with passengers from the EU who seem to favour deepdive explorations that enable them to FEATURE: GOOD TIMES AHEAD “ We now need to plan three years in advance to secure the best berths” Benoit Carassou-Maillan gives an insight into how Ponant’s efforts to become more agile and adaptable during the pandemic have empowered it to develop more innovative itineraries An unexpected benefit
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