Tirun, Royal Caribbean To Focus On Brand Marketing

“To penetrate the market further, this year we plan to aggressively focus on brand marketing. The strategy will be two pronged. we will target both agents and consumers educating them about the difference between brands and the core values of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise brand.” - Gautam Chadha, managing director, Tirun Travel

Anindita Chattopadhyay - New Delhi

Exactly a decade ago, Tirun Travel Marketing exposed Indian consumers to the concept of cruise vacation and the travel trade to an additional source of income by bringing in Royal Caribbean to India. Today as Tirun and Royal Caribbean celebrate their ten years of partnership in India, cruise is the in-thing and Royal Caribbean is an established brand.

"To penetrate the market further, this year we plan to aggressively focus on brand marketing. The strategy will be two pronged. We will target both agents and consumers, educating them about the difference between brands and the core values of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise brand," said Gautam Chadha, MD, Tirun Travel. Already Tirun has established a network of offices to service agents and offers them real time best fare for booking online, he added.

Chadha took the trade by surprise 10 years ago by laying down out of the normal rules of marketing. The product with an average price of US$ 1,000 had to be booked 45 days in advance with payment in dollars and a cancellation charge tag attached. On the flip side, the start up cost was close to a million dollars, invested in marketing activities like printing brochures, running and campaigns to create product awareness and brand concept.

Today Tirun has broken even, won outstanding performance award for sales growth from 1995-2001 and enjoys a database of high net worth loyalists. For initiators, the company registered a 30 per cent growth in calendar year 2003.

The secret of selling a high value product, pointed out Chadha, was offering the best price for a quality product as matured travellers do not want lowest price but value for money. According to Chadha Royal Caribbean scores over other cruise products because, it is a superior quality family oriented product offering exceptional holiday experiences complete with children activities, putting, rock-climbing and ice-skating options on high seas, apart from the usual entertainment. "This year, the cruise liner is coming up with an array of new itineraries spanning over three, five, seven, 10 and 12 days with one more ship joining its 26-strong fleet. What's more, this summer the Voyager of the Seas, one of the five 140,000 tonne ships, will be anchored in New York enabling people visiting the city to take a cruise from there," adds Chadha.

He however, admits that cruise tourism in India is still in its infancy. From a few hundreds 10 years ago, the number of travellers taking cruise vacations rose to just 40,000. It comes as a surprise because in 2003 globally cruise segment has bounced back regaining the loss incurred after 9/11, while two large Cruise Lines - Royal Caribbean and Carnival - out-performed on New York Stock Exchange. According to Chadha, while the accessibility factor (inadequate seats preventing competitive fares), unfriendly visa regime (acquiring a UK or USA visa has become really challenging after 9/11) acted as a deterrents, the other limiting factor was the lack of serious interest among agents. "Selling cruise throws open incremental revenue opportunities as it involves selling air ticket and booking hotels as well. Out of 1800 accredited IATA agents, 1260 earned commissions from us, many of them repeatedly. Agents now need to move beyond selling tickets and put back the money they earned to exploit this additional source of income."

So, what are the plans to celebrate the momentous occasion? Reluctant to divulge details about the celebration plans, he signed off with, "There will be year long celebration. We have much excitement to share with consumers and our partners in the trade with the peak cruise season coming up."