Cognizant of the trend of consumers going online to book their flights and hotels, second generation travel agency owner Dr Frederic Yip of Goldjoy Travel in Hong Kong decided to do a little digging into the online cruise sector a couple of years ago.

Yip, who eight years ago had joined the company started by his father, said during a panel at Cruise World Asia this week, “We’ve been selling cruises for close to 25 years and as I had an engineering background, I was curious about the tech side of things. I started digging deeper into the cruise vertical. I found out the way cruises were sold and distributed in Asia was very much behind how flights and hotels were sold and for valid reasons.

“At that time, there wasn’t anything quite like Expedia Cruises in our region and most probably even now, most travel agents market and sell cruises through offline channels and travel fairs. When I started, CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) reports cite that 80% of cruise bookings globally were still being conducted offline.”

Sensing an opportunity, Yip launched an online cruise booking OTA as part of Goldjoy. “Immediately, we found incredible success. It could be because it was during COVID and the closest holiday experience that one could have was to jump onto a cruise-to-nowhere that was operated by Royal Caribbean or Dream Cruises.

“We were also preparing for border re-opening, people were booking cruises because the cruise lines were offering insane promotions and offers.”

Yip said post-pandemic, the online booking trend has stayed and today, 90% of the cruises sold by Goldjoy are booked online, “even the expensive ones.”

Recognizing the popularity and potential of the technologies it had built, Yip seized the opportunity to expand beyond Hong Kong, and it established a new company in Singapore, Cruqo, “as a cruise technology arm that can provide our OTA platform to the existing players in each market through partnerships.”

How to bulletproof your agency with technology

On the same panel on “How to bulletproof your travel agency business with technology”, Chan Chee Chong, CEO and co-founder of GlobalTix, whose tours and activities technology company is moving into cruises “in a small way”, said the same shift online is being seen in his sector, propelled by the entry of the giant OTAs.

“As more and more bookings are made on app, mega OTAs are keen to provide a one-stop shop to prevent their customers from having a secondary app on their phone. Hence the three key verticals – flights, hotels and tours and activities – are becoming the norm. And with many B2B wholesalers like bed banks and activities aggregator, it’s no longer that hard to provide options for your customers,” he said.

His advice to the more than 300 travel agents gathered for the event, organized by Travel Weekly Asia: If you are a small business, start small.

He cited the example of the Museum of Ice Cream which adopted technology first to be able to drive online sales. “Then they found tools to help them do marketing with the ability to do conversions, such as working with KOLs with trackable links. Then subsequently, they adopted distribution technology to increase their sales with various OTAs and offline agents.”

Another example is the Blue Mansion in Penang which, once it accepted digital wallets, saw its online sales grow almost immediately.

“A big boy like Taman Safari, which used to have a lot of manual work, adopted the latest technologies to help them with their commission management. They also provided hotel concierges with unique links and that significantly increased their ability to convert more sales.”

Newer, bigger ships will drive first-timers, multigenerational travel

The shift to online is happening at the same time as the generational shift in customers taking cruises. Pre-Covid, Yip said the average age of the Hong Kong cruise passenger was 54 but is now 38.

“It’s very interesting what the region is going through right now. Newer and bigger ships are being deployed in Asia. Disney Adventure will drive a lot of first time cruisers. When people ask me about cruise recommendations, I always ask back, have you ever cruised before?

“Nine out of 10 have not. I ask them why haven’t they tried and, the top two responses were, cruise holidays are for retired people or for people who want to go casino gaming while on a cruise.

“The huge average age drop we saw was because the two cruise ships that were operating at the time were new, modern and designed for multi-generation guests and families. There was something fun for everyone regardless of which age group. Grandparents, parents, brought their kids and friends along. And of course, connectivity. Thanks to SpaceX’s Starlink. Internet is much cheaper and faster, you are always connected.

“I wouldn’t be cruising if I’m disconnected.”

With the generational shift in consumers also comes new ways of marketing to these younger travelers. A new study, on “E-commerce influencer marketing in Southeast Asia,” shows that in Singapore, 41% of consumers value influencer recommendations, and Live commerce has gained traction, with 77% of Singaporean consumers using at least one platform.

Chan said, “These younger consumers are all about experience. Cruises must create unique (as well as Instagram-able) experiences. For example, yoga lessons on the deck, wave surfing. Of course all these must be captured in shortform content. Working with KOLs or micro-influencers is a must.”

Yip agrees that working with influencers is important but he said his preference is to work with a variety of them so that “you are not too dependent on one or two of them.”

How traditional travel agencies can compete in the age of AI

He said where traditional travel agencies have an edge over OTAs is in the creating of experiences and adding value beyond information which can be readily provided by AI. At one of its travel events in Hong Kong, Yip got to interview Conrad Combrink of Silversea Cruises who has visited Antarctica 82 times.

“Conrad is a fascinating guy, an expedition encyclopedia and a storyteller. After you listen to him talk about his polar adventures, you immediately feel jealous and want to experience it yourself. What you will find most interesting is that, out of those 82 times, every one of them is a unique experience. Whales, penguins, sea lions, birds, sea conditions, weather – that’s what is cool about expeditions; it’s different every time. His scouting missions to look for new cruise itineraries are also pretty awesome. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes.”

His advice: “Look and promote destinations and products that are exclusive and niche. Limited, hard to get. There is fewer than 0.01% of humans ever lived that has visited Antarctica.

“Travelers that are seeking experiences are after a “journey” and not just a stay, they want details. If travel advisors can tell a story of how they flew on a hot air balloon over Africa and watched lions being attacked by a group of hyenas but eventually escaped, those stories are infectious. You suddenly become a very interesting person.”

Chan believes making an emotional connection with customers is important. “You must create opportunities for me to tell a story, either get me very drunk or make me do something that I can’t do anywhere else. A moment that becomes a forever memory.”

Both agree that AI will further widen the divide between the haves and have-nots in travel. “Knowing how to use AI is an unfair advantage, just like the internet,” said Yip, which is why travel agencies need to dial up their creativity and human imagination to compete.

Asked what was the most immediate, practical use of AI in his business, he said, “I know the team uses ChatGPT/Co-Pilot to assist them in translations, itinerary suggestions, destination highlights. And the finance team uses AI functionality within BI tools for revenue management and reporting purposes.”

Chan said, “Translation and content generation.”

As for the biggest transformation to come, Chan said, “Ironically it will be the craving for human like-stuff, like imperfection, a real human voice.”

Yip said, “Autonomous vehicles or robotaxis”.

“I think we will see fewer and fewer human chauffeurs holding up signs with somebody’s name on it and waiting one hour or more for a guests to arrive at the cruise or airport arrival hall because the flight was delayed. Arriving travelers will walk up to a designated spot, the driverless car will drive you to your hotel or office, point to point.”

*This article originally appeared on WebinTravel.