By Shreya Shimpi
How is the Indian outbound cruise traveller evolving, and which cruise products or destinations are currently seeing the strongest demand from India?
Indian travellers today are far more experience-led in their approach to holidays. They are travelling more frequently, taking multiple vacations throughout the year, and looking for journeys that combine comfort, exploration and convenience. Cruising naturally fits very well into this shift, especially for families and multigenerational travellers. Mediterranean cruises continue to see very strong demand from India, particularly itineraries with MSC Cruises and Costa Cruises, where travellers can experience destinations like Italy, Spain and France in one seamless journey without the usual complexities of multi-city European land travel.
In light of the current geopolitical unrest, rising airfares and the recent appeal by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on avoiding unnecessary foreign travel, how do you see outbound cruise demand being impacted?
While geopolitical situations and rising airfares do influence travel decisions in the short term, Indians are continuing to travel and prioritize experiences. What we are noticing is a shift in preference rather than a drop in demand. Travellers today are planning more carefully, looking at overall value, ease of connectivity and meaningful experiences. Naturally, in the current environment and in line with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s appeal for mindful travel, travellers are becoming more selective about how and where they travel. However, we remain optimistic about the long-term growth of outbound travel once geopolitical conditions stabilize.
Asia cruise itineraries, especially Singapore, Japan, China sailings, have seen strong demand because they are easier to access and work well for shorter holidays.
How is your organisation working with the travel trade to make cruise holidays more relevant, accessible and easier to sell for Indian travellers?
At ClickMyCruise, we see the travel trade as the strongest driver for cruise growth in India. A large part of our effort goes into enabling and educating our travel partners through webinars, training sessions, product updates and sales support. We work closely with agents to help them understand how cruises can be packaged alongside land holidays and positioned for different customer segments. The focus is not just on selling cruises, but on helping the trade confidently sell the right cruise experience to the right traveller.
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