Page 42 - TFWA World Exhibit 2024 Special Edition

INSIDER

Guest Editorial:
Adrian Pittaway tackles the rollercoaster of Cruise Retail

Imagine stepping onto a brand-new
cruise ship, only to find that its retail
shops are staffed by crew who lack the
knowledge to provide an exceptional brand
experience?
Before going over into the retail
corner, let’s start this article with one of the
most mind-boggling numbers in the cruise
industry. 20,000. This is the total number
of new crew that will be needed to be
recruited in 2025 alone, to simply fulfil the
needs of just the new build ships coming
into service next year.
Strap yourself onto the ride, because
the cruise industry is gearing up for another
major period of exciting expansion ahead. Adrian Pittaway
The major operators in the cruise industry
are opportunity experts, and their business industry will continue to attract the core challenge the sector is that of the people.
resilience is back once again doing what passenger but also bring in many new The simple infrastructure challenges of the
they do best, growing, and growing fast! passengers looking for ever more exciting cruise industry make it even more daunting
The dark days of the pandemic are far gone and dynamic vacations. – continually changing teams, ever moving
now, and the confidence that the cruise So, what does all this optimism mean ships, ever changing requirements.
industry has as being the vacation of choice for cruise retail? Simply put, it means that To keep a consistent process in place
means that there is real excitement in the we need to double down on what we know to cover all these people and infrastructure
period ahead. works and increase the focus where our particularities is not an easy one.
2024 looks like it will easily be a attention must be: Our People. Particularly for those who want to build
record year for the cruise industry with As the latest amazing new ships enter success in the industry without necessarily
over 36 million passengers expected service they will bring a huge array of investing significantly to do so.
(source: CLIA) and a record level differing market sectors, cruise itineraries So, with all these challenges, with
of occupancy across the global fleet and ever divergent guest profiles. The nearly 40 million potential customers +
particularly in the major source markets need for us to train and build a strong and huge growth expected in the next years,
such as the U.S. Whilst we have been engaged retail workforce across the sector how do we best deliver a sustainable
talking about ‘emerging’ markets being has never been more important, but also people development strategy for the cruise
the growth engine for the industry over the never more challenging. retail industry?
past years, the data and expectations are From the huge numbers of new staff This is where the “rollercoaster” needs
really showing that the strongest potential entering the industry, the high volumes of everyone riding on it. In an industry of so
currently remains in the traditional staff turnover to the significant upskilling much global fragmentation, the more we
markets. And this is where the incredible challenges needed for existing staff, the work together, the more we can solve some
rollercoaster growth potential is likely to efforts needed to keep the sector motivated of the most significant inherent challenges
remain for the next period. New ships, are never ending. At the recent cruise retail together. Challenges that all are facing –
new experiences and ever accelerating conference in June, the overriding topic operators, brands, individuals alike.
innovation will mean that the cruise from the major operators that continues to The Cruise Retail Academy is being
developed as a platform for collaborative
support. We want to help improve the
proportion of the industry that is trained
to a consistent standard, to support
those new-to-cruise people to get a great
understanding and basic training in the
industry before they embark, and we
want to connect brands to as many of the
professionals as possible in a simple and
effectively measured way.
Our aim is to provide a place where
delivering the tools to enhance the
experience and differentiation be done
in a cost-effective and efficient way. The
success of cruise retail will greatly depend

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