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Greg Schulze, Expedia Group
"We’re focusing on cruise in a big way, and it’s a long-term focus for us. We want to be the leader in digital experience and content, the leader in supply and transparent pricing, the leader in service and trip management."
Quote from Greg Schulze, senior vice president of transport and cruise at Expedia Group, in a story on PhocusWire this week on the company's ambitions in the cruise sector.
Each Friday, PhocusWire dissects and debates an industry trend or new development covered by PhocusWire that week.
Expedia’s ambition is a lofty one. Cruise has always been hard to sell online because of all the moving parts, from cabin categories to meal plans and shore excursions.
In addition, even if the complications of cruise sales are removed from the discussion, one component that has always been missing from the online travel experience is the apparent human touch required to take a booking.
However, digital often finds a way and that need to sometimes talk to a person has been fulfilled somewhat by online chat services, often supported by humans and increasingly digital FAQs, before eventually being handed off to a human.
But note that Expedia is saying leader in experience and content… etc., but it crucially leaves out booking.
The move from the online giant to marry online and offline solutions is interesting and makes sense, at least in the short to medium term.
Expedia talks about giving customers the best experience and enabling them to pick up the phone as when required.
The company has been steadily building up its digital capabilities around cruise booking since its acquisition of CruiseShipCenters (now Expedia Cruise) in 2013.
Last year it brought the cruise agents on to its Expedia Group Partner Central platform, which the company says improves access to supply and enhances the consumer experience.
But as is often the case, the devil will be in the data, because having the agents on the central platform will enable the online giant to track everything, analyze the painpoints and assess where customers are lost in the digital journey.
The question left hanging is what Expedia’s digital targets might be when it comes to cruise? Maybe now is the time for cruise to take the final steps into the digital world.
For the sector to appeal to younger, digital-savvy generations, cruise will certainly have to evolve to some extent.
Online giants such as Expedia are well placed, armed with the data, to provide all the necessary tools needed for a full online experience.
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Sounding Off.