To The Edge Of The World

The market for cruises is growing on the back of new launches and travellers’ desire to move beyond conventional holidaying.

- Manu Kaushik

The word “new” works wonders in the cruise business. Last year, when Royal Caribbean Cruises launched the Symphony of the Seas, the bookings from India shot up dramatically. Tirun, the India representative of Royal Caribbean Cruises, ran out of space. People were ready to pay a premium over the previous year's charges. For instance, a European product on that cruise would generally sell for $2,200 per guest for balcony staterooms, whereas Symphony sold at $3,500. “When we launch a new ship, the bookings surge,” says Tirun CEO Varun Chadha.

Nearly 2,50,000 Indians travel on cruise ships per year. This number is set to grow substantially with the launch of new do-mestic cruise ships. The demand for luxury cruise is about 10 per cent (or 25,000 a year) of this.

The holiday-on-cruise trend had started in India almost 30 years ago. The first set of patrons was mostly industrialists and newly-wed couples. For a long time, the profile of customers was teasingly referred to as “newly-weds, half-deads and can’t-gets”. Now, with rise in disposable incomes, new launches, people going for multi-city vacations and word-of-mouth publicity, there has been a large shift in business. The segment is today driven by top professionals and affluent families. At times, generations of families travel to celebrate occasions such as birthdays and marriage anniversaries.

The launch of Zoya Akhtar-directed multistarrer 2015 Dil Dhadakne Do, mostly shot in Pullmantur Cruises (Spain’s largest cruise line) in the scenic Mediterranean sea, gave a booster shot to the industry.