Wider coordination needed to help recovery

Time to reflect

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and chief executive of Celebrity Cruises, agreed the pause on travel had allowed for reflection on how companies operate.

“Every day I say I’m going to look for a silver lining in all this, and I think a clear one for me is how we look at deeper immersions for Celebrity’s customers in the destinations we visit,” she said.

“The situation has also allowed us to look at how technology can be utilized in many areas – such as our new Muster 2:0, which means people no longer need the inconvenience of gathering in large groups on board our ships.”

She added that Celebrity Cruises was “in no hurry to come back” until all measures were in place to allow for a full return.

“We continue to work closely with the Healthy Sail Panel so that customers will be so confident when they come back and reassured,” she said.

Healthy Sail Panel is a joint initiative between Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to develop enhanced health and safety standards to help cruise lines respond to the pandemic and safely resume operations.

But Lutoff-Perlo added that despite no sailing for the months ahead, forward bookings looked very strong – 40% of business is rebooks, but 60% of business is currently for new travel, she said, adding Alaska and Europe sailings were currently “top of the list”.

“For many people, this is a case of vacation interrupted; not cancelled. Q3/Q4 2021 is the biggest booking window for us at the moment, people are very confident for the future, but the news cycle and virus spikes have a direct impact on consumer confidence.”

“A lot of people may even get a shock when it comes to 2021 and how much is actually not available for them,” added Upchurch. “People will need to put their big plans in place soon, and then slot other trips in around them.”

Taste for adventure

Geoffrey Kent, founder and co-chairman of Abercrombie & Kent said the global operator’s focus on adventure was also coming to fruition among a wider audience.

“In one fell swoop, this pandemic has made people realize something we [at A&K] have known for years – that people want more adventurous travel and crave experiences in nature,” Kent said. “Many people are thinking this could be the opportunity to try something new and different – whether that be trekking in Nepal, or to see the gorillas in Rwanda.

“But for now, we’re in a holding pattern – people want to get on the move but they can’t.”

Philippe Zuber, chief executive of Kerzner International, which includes the Atlantis and One&Only brands, said green shoots included long-stay bookings at top villas in the company’s range of resorts, such as One&Only Reethi Rah in the Maldives.

“Villas are selling out first, and it’s not unsual for us to get 28-day bookings at the moment – people also want to stay put somewhere, rather than do multiple stops on a trip,” Zuber said. “Guests have such a level of confidence in resorts and brands they know and they want to go back – to see the people they love in hotels and the people they want to help in the community.”

He added that the company’s resorts in Dubai remained popular, with its two resorts in Rwanda also seeing levels of interest, but he added he had fears for South Africa, where the company operates a hotel in Cape Town; “we firmly believe in the destination, but there are questions over future airlift to the country”, he said.

The cost of luxury

Prices must hold firm into 2021, the luxury experts agreed, saying discounting would add more instability to the market.

“We need to avoid damage caused by lowering prices,” said Lutoff-Perlo. “We’re a luxury brand and we see rates holding for this year and next, and I’m glad about that – both for the company, and for travel advisors.”

Misty Belles, managing director of global public relations for Virtuoso, said travel advisor members across Europe seemed to be making more bookings than other parts of the world for now, according to its most recent survey in advance of Virtuoso Travel Week.

Belles said a survey among members’ clients had also found that the over-arching important factor when clients were looking to travel now was flexible booking policies.

“These kinds of policies will become a major factor in how consumers choose who they are going to book and travel with,” Upchurch added.

Road trips and beaches were overwhelmingly the more popular options for those who were willing to travel, Virtuoso’s survey also found, and that lead times had also become much shorter.

When it came to what was on offer at hotels, wellness, local immersion, adventure and beach were key popular reasons to book, with “landmark hotels” and “city life” options being less popular choices.

Belles added that “turndown service” in luxury had become “turning down service” instead, as luxury travellers and hotels became more mindful of social distance and new protocols, and that “travel pods” were becoming more popular, as different families picked people they felt comfortable travelling with.

Virtuoso Travel Week: The Virtual Experience continues until 13 August.