Having notched a 10 per cent growth in 2013, Ark Travels, which is the PSA for Star Cruises, MSC Cruise and Norwegian Cruiseline in India, now aims to achieve a 25-30 per cent growth in 2014. Speaking exclusively with T3, Kishan Biyani, Director, Ark Holidays opined that increasing awareness and acceptance of cruise holidays has made the company more optimistic about the year to come. “The cruise market is growing rapidly in India and more travellers are beginning to understand that this holiday option is the perfect for tourists from metro cities, families and even single mothers,” Biyani stated.
He further added that the company is planning to tap the tier II and III markets for the cruise ships. “Travellers from metro cities have done the Star cruises and are looking for more exotic destinations and longer cruise holidays such as Alaska. However, the tier II and III markets will still be keen on South East Asian cruises, where the holidays are shorter and visas are easier to come by,” he added. Speaking about the year 2013, Biyani stated that the vessels had received a lot of footfall from FIT and corporate travellers, especially from the West, North and East of India.
When asked about their strategy to work with the travel trade this year, he mentioned that they started the year with participation in TTF in Chennai and Bengaluru and look forward to SATTE, with an aim to participate in more trade shows and thereby increase visibility. The company also plans to conduct presentations for travel agents, and expand these activities to smaller cities in India.
“We believe that the smaller cities are an untapped market with tremendous potential. Some of our vessels also have new itineraries that we need to educate the travel trade about. In addition, we have begun to host weddings on board, and have already organised three so far. We will hence focus on this travel segment more this year,” Biyani concluded.
