November 12, 2024 • 52 mins
What happens when luxury meets the open seas? Join us as we uncover the secrets behind Regent Seven Seas Cruises with our special guest, Steve Odell, Chief Sales Officer. From his global career journey to insights on crafting culturally rich cruise experiences, Steve shares how Regent is redefining luxury travel. Discover what makes their boutique offerings irresistible to a wide range of travelers and why their inclusive pricing model is a game-changer in the high-end cruise market.
The cruise industry is on a thrilling post-COVID resurgence, and we’re here to explore its trajectory toward 40 million cruisers by 2027. We tackle the industry's challenges, including sustainability and over-tourism, and highlight Regent’s Sail & Sustain program aimed at reducing environmental impact. As luxury travelers shift their focus to more remote destinations, learn how technology is shaping the future of luxury cruising, making expeditions to cooler climates like Greenland and Antarctica more accessible and intimate.
We also peek into Regent Seven Seas’ ambitious growth strategies, from new ships set to launch to innovative itineraries catering to discerning globe-trotters. With a spotlight on the evolving role of travel agents and emerging markets, discover how Regent plans to capture new generations of cruisers. As we wrap up our exploration of ocean cruises, stay tuned for future episodes where we’ll navigate through river cruises and more, and don’t forget to connect with us on social media for the latest updates.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dan Christian (00:13):
Hello everyone and welcome back to Travel
Trends.
This is your host, danChristian, and I am just back
from an incredible week inLondon where I gave a keynote at
the World Travel MarketConference.
Along with my friend, matthewGardner, we were highlighting
the top digital trends to payattention to for 2025, which was
synthesized from about 100episodes of this show, and you
(00:33):
can find many of the clips andhighlights on our social
channels on Instagram, linkedinand YouTube at Travel Trends
Podcast.
I also had the privilege togive a keynote on route in
Reykjavik, iceland, at theCaptio Unite conference.
I wanted to say thanks again toRagnar and the team for the
invitation and being such bigfans of the show and, lastly, I
wanted to make sure thateveryone knows we're going to be
(00:54):
at the Focusrite conference inPhoenix, arizona next week,
november 19th to 21st.
We're an official media partner.
We'll have a booth and we'll berecording Travel Trends podcast
live and we'll also beproducing a summary episode that
will highlight all of the major, exciting developments from
Focusrite this year.
Hopefully, you can join us and,if not, stay tuned for that
(01:14):
episode.
We're thrilled to have thisopportunity and we're looking
forward to seeing Pete Gene andthe entire team there shortly.
Now I'm excited to return to ourdeep dive into ocean cruising.
We, of course, kicked thingsoff last week with Virgin
Voyages, who is a relativenewcomer and also an independent
in this large world of oceancruising.
There are actually three majorplayers in this space there's
(01:36):
Carnival, there's RoyalCaribbean and there's Norwegian,
and the company that we'regoing to be focusing on today,
regent Seven Seas, is actuallypart of the Norwegian group, and
then we're going to be focusingon today, regent Seven Seas is
actually part of the Norwegiangroup.
And then we're going to haveScenic, which is known for river
cruising but also has Ocean,also an independent, similar to
Virgin Voyages, and then we'regoing to have Princess Cruises,
which is actually part of theCarnival group, and then we're
(01:56):
going to finish up by having HXfrom the Hurtigerton group.
As we talk about expeditioncruising, my hope with this
series, a collection ofinterviews, is that it gives all
of our listeners and myself forthat matter a good
understanding at least initialunderstanding, of the world of
ocean cruising.
But, based on the initialfeedback from partners and
listeners, we're definitelygoing to continue this
(02:18):
conversation in season five.
We've had a number of companiesreach out to be interviewed and
a number of companies that arekeen to sponsor, and so thank
you for all that feedback andinterest.
And, on that exact note, Iwanted to recognize our friends
at Jeb Commerce for stepping upand sponsoring this very first
series.
We're thrilled to have you onboard as a partner.
For anyone who doesn't have anaffiliate program or has an
(02:40):
underperforming affiliateprogram, you need to reach out
to the team at Jeb Commerce.
They manage affiliate programsacross the travel industry,
including cruise companies.
Princess is one of theirclients.
I've had the privilege to workwith them for nearly 10 years.
We've launched, managed andoptimized affiliate programs
across a range of travel brands,from river cruise to multi-day
(03:00):
tour, and they are absolutelythe genuine article.
So I highly rate their team,and they've created a special
page just for our listeners,which you can find at
jebcommercecom slash traveltrends.
Be sure to reach out to themtoday.
All right, now it's time towelcome our next guest.
Steve O'Dell is the Chief SalesOfficer for Regent Seven Seas,
(03:23):
based in Miami, florida.
He's spent his entire career inthe cruise industry nearly 20
years at Silversea Cruises,based in Europe, and then the
last decade he's been inAustralia and then just recently
relocated to Miami to take onthis new role and it's a
pleasure to introduce him to youand get his take on everything
that's happening in the cruiseindustry.
(03:44):
It's so great to have you onthe Travel Trends podcast.
Thanks for making the time tojoin us.
Steve Odell (03:48):
Thank you very much for having me.
I'm looking forward to chattingto you.
Dan Christian (03:51):
Likewise.
I think people got a good ideafrom that introduction there of
your impressive background inthe cruise industry your time at
Silversea and then nowNorwegian and specifically
Region 7C.
So I'm so keen to get your takeon the ocean cruise category.
But I'd love to start to giveeveryone a bit of an idea of how
you actually got into thisindustry in the first place.
Steve Odell (04:10):
Oh well, I really got into it by default.
I was studying at universityback in the UK and I had to do
an internship for a couple ofsummers and I ended up working
for a UK cruise company&O.
And luck was on my side becausewhen I graduated they offered
me a full-time job and sincethen I've worked in the cruise
(04:34):
business and I've been verylucky to work all around the
world doing this job as well.
I spent some time in Australia.
I did start up for Silversea inAustralia back in 2001.
And then I spent a bit of timewith head office with them in
Monaco and then I went back toAustralia with this job with
(04:54):
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdingsin 2015.
So I feel very privileged.
I've lived all around the worldand I think that really helps
you grow as a person.
You know, you understand peopleand culture and the way that
different people think.
So I feel very privileged tohave first of all worked in the
cruise business but done that ina lot of places.
I recently moved to Miami, sothat's sort of the final piece
(05:17):
of the puzzle really in terms ofthe global travel.
So I moved here in April forthis new job at head office.
Dan Christian (05:25):
Oh, that's perfect, and that's exactly why
I wanted to have thisconversation with you, because,
knowing your global profile inthe industry, and exactly what
you just described is that whenyou have a full understanding of
where we source customers fromand the types of trips you send
them on, it's really importantto have a cultural understanding
of each of these markets and bebased in the market, as you now
(05:46):
are in Miami, which isobviously one of the big hubs
for the cruise industry.
So tell us a little bit aboutRegent Seven Seas in particular.
So for those listeners, for theuninitiated, how would you
describe the brand and give usjust a bit of an overview of the
company if you wouldn't?
Steve Odell (06:01):
mind.
Oh sure, well, we have 30 yearsof heritage and today we sit in
really the sort of pinnacle ofthe business, if you like, the
ultra luxury segment of cruising, where the ships are smaller.
We're really defining luxury assmall inclusive, as small
(06:21):
inclusive and the ultimate placeto travel.
So there are very few playersin this top sector.
We are absolutely one of themand we claim to have the top
position.
Very interesting.
Dan Christian (06:35):
And so you were at once part of the Radisson
Seven Seas but then became partof Norwegian, I guess about 10
years ago now.
So I'm assuming from that point, obviously things have and you
came on in 2015.
So literally right after thathappened.
So you're obviously your role.
(06:55):
There is incredibly importantto scale this business.
So tell us a little bit whathappened after Norwegian came in
and obviously really decidedthis was going to be a growth
focus category for them.
Steve Odell (07:03):
Well, as you say, the business started back at the
end of the 90s with a ship, theRadisson Diamond, and since
then we added the Mariner andthe Voyager.
But I guess a turning point forthis business was after the
merger into Norwegian, when welaunched the Explorer-class
ships.
These were a new generation ofgroundbreaking ships.
(07:25):
I mean, to me they were gamechangers and that's elevated
Regent's position in thebusiness, in the luxury cruise
business, since then.
So it's been a journey, youknow, 30 years of evolution and
of course you really have tosort of to be at the top, you
have to be groundbreaking andyou have to be innovators and I
think we've very successfullypositioned ourselves with that.
Dan Christian (07:48):
Yeah, well, and this is where for this deep dive
into ocean cruising and many ofthe questions I have for you
today will hopefully not onlyenlighten me but our audience on
this sector, this category, andone of the things that amazed
me when I saw CLIA doing apresentation earlier this year
at the cruise summit and theywere highlighting the fact
there's 300 cruise ships, and Iremember having that.
I guess, thinking it through, itjust always seemed like there'd
(08:09):
be more than that when youthink about the number of
companies and um, and so one ofthe things I wanted to kind of
spend some time on is exactlywhat you just started to
describe, which is the type ofships that you offer, because
obviously, that that is whatthat is one of the key
attributes that sets uh cruiselines apart.
So tell us a little bit aboutthe different class of ships
that you have, um, and also, ifyou wouldn't mind, some of the
(08:32):
most popular itineraries anddestinations that you serve,
because I also came to quicklyunderstand that the caribbean is
by far and away the number onecruise destination in the world.
So yeah I'd love to understand abit more about the ships and
the destinations you serve.
Steve Odell (08:44):
Yeah, and I think you know what you're saying is
very true.
I mean, cruising gets wrappedup under a banner but rather
like the hotel business, thereare many different types of
hotels and experiences.
There are many types of cruisesand experiences.
So you have the big ships and Ithink you know, largely for the
uneducated population, forcruising, they would see that as
(09:07):
what a cruise ship is all about.
You know big ships floatingaround carrying hundreds of
people.
Actually, you know that is apart of the market.
But you've also got, at theother end of the scale,
expedition ships with 100passengers.
So you know there's somethingfor everybody out there and I
always challenge people whenthey ask me about cruising and
what should they do.
(09:27):
I always challenge people bysaying, well, what do you like
to do hotel wise?
Because there'll be somethingout there that will match.
For you.
To define Regent, I mean we sit,I would consider us to be a
boot luxury hotel.
So we're, you know, 350 rooms.
We carry a small number ofpassengers with a lot of space,
(09:49):
and you know we really focustowards a high level of service,
highly trained crew, peoplethat really provide what I'd
call intuitive service.
You know it's sort ofanticipating what people might
want before the passengers askfor it.
I mean, that's the ultimatedisplay of service.
(10:09):
But it's all about good servicegreat architecture, luxurious
surroundings, good food,bringing all those things
together into one luxury hotelafloat.
Dan Christian (10:17):
And then, in terms of the customer, I mean
clearly it is, as you described,boutique hotel, so it's
high-end, it's luxury and thenin terms of the customer, I mean
clearly it is, as you described, boutique hotel, so it's high
end, it's luxury, and I can thenkind of assume, as many of our
listeners might as well, thetype of customer.
But I'd love you to kind ofbreak it down for us because I
do find this fascinating.
We had Virgin Voyages as partof this series and Scenic as
(10:38):
well, and these conversations.
I really do find themfascinating because clearly
you're trying to make sure thatthe ships, the itineraries, the
brand connects with your targetaudience and you can fill the
ships and obviously runprofitable sailing.
So tell us a little bit aboutwho is the kind of the ideal
client profile for a region trip, like what is a typical cruise
customer for you?
(10:58):
Where are they and what aresome of the demographics or even
psychographics that they fallinto and what are some?
Steve Odell (11:04):
of the demographics or even psychographics that
they fall into.
Yeah, I think you know, if youtake an average across the year,
it probably gives you the wrongperception of what we are and
who we are.
You know we're in the 40 to 60age group category across the
average of the year, but youknow the demographic can be
lower and it can be different atdifferent times of the year.
(11:25):
So if we're operating seven-daycruises, for example, we could
get 30, 40-year-olds.
But if we're operating longcruises, like world cruises and
grand voyages, we're going tohave a much more senior group of
people.
And then in between you get alot of multi-generational
families coming these days wheregrandparents will bring their
kids and their grandkids andtheir great grandkids.
(11:46):
So we're getting a real mix.
But you know, in a way the pricepoint dictates the kind of
customer we have.
You know these are luxurybuyers.
They're people that are used tovery high standards, they're
experienced travelers and so wetend to get, you know, typically
we get a 40 to 60 year oldmarket.
(12:07):
They come from all around theworld and for us that's very
important because the culturalmix, you know, if you have too
many of one nationality, itdoesn't create the same kind of
feeling or experience as if youhave a mix from across the, you
know, across the globe.
So we have big.
We have a big market in Europe.
(12:28):
We also have a huge market inAustralia, but our core market
is North America.
Dan Christian (12:34):
Right, and I was looking at some of the
itineraries, assuming that waslikely the case, given, I mean,
you've got trips from Vancouverto Tokyo, but like even Montreal
to Boston, I was reallyintrigued by your itinerary.
Talk a little bit about theprice point, and I know I'll be
careful in that regard, becauseone of the things that I
certainly know from all my timeworking in travel and marketing
travel, especially working withUniworld, is that people fix
(12:56):
something on the price.
You need to sell the differencefirst, because if you look at
the exterior of a ship,especially a river cruise ship,
they look very similar, but, asyou were describing with uh,
with a hotel, it's a vastlydifference to experience between
a holiday in and a four seasons, clearly clear.
And if people just see theprice, they may um not fully
understand, because what I wasseeing in preparation for a call
like and, and knowing um a bitabout the brand, is that a
(13:18):
week-long itinerary wastypically more in the ten
thousand dollar range.
Um, so I guess, is that kind ofroughly an average price point,
and what sort of itineraries I?
Steve Odell (13:28):
think the most important thing to consider is
the inclusions.
And when you get to theultra-luxury part of the cruise
business, you'll find that thebrands offer a more inclusive
approach.
So you know, for us we claim tohave the most inclusive product
.
We even include tour excursionsin our fairs, but you get
(13:52):
everything from your drinks,fine wines, wi-fi, laundry, you
know, of course, all the diningoptions.
I mean all of that is included.
So when you look at a fare, wealways encourage our guests to
consider the value of what'sincluded and not the end price
(14:12):
point.
Because, because you know youcan you can buy cruises in the
premium market or the upperpremium market or the
contemporary market, but youwill spend more money when you
go on board temporary market.
But you will spend more moneywhen you go on board, literally,
when you go on board a RegentCruise.
You could put your wallet oryour purse in your bag or in the
safe and not use it at all, notopen it.
(14:32):
So I think that value is theimportant thing.
The other thing is, you know weoffer a lot of incentives for
people who book earlier andcommit to travel.
So the price point that you seewill often come with tactical
promotions or early bookingpromotions, because the other
(14:56):
thing about the ultra luxurybusiness is people do commit
early to travel to get the rightitinerary they want and the
right accommodation.
Do commit early to travel toget the right itinerary they
want and the right accommodation.
The entry prices tend to bearound seven-day cruises, which
are largely Alaska and some inthe Mediterranean.
So that's a good starting pointfor someone who hasn't traveled
with us before.
Come and try the experience,see if you like it, and then
(15:22):
generally people trade up to 10days, 12 days and longer right.
Dan Christian (15:26):
Yeah, I remember doing my first cruise in a week
and you wanted a second week andyou were so jealous of the
people that were going to becarrying on.
So I totally get your pointthere.
Yeah, and, and when I waspreparing for our conversation,
I was looking at the shipsthemselves because from what I
could, um, I gathered there'skind of six primary ships uh the
grandeur, explorer, mariner,splendor, voyager, navigator.
I see the theme with all thenaming because, from what I
could gather, there's kind ofsix primary ships the Grandeur
Explorer, mariner, splendor,voyager, navigator.
(15:48):
I see the theme with all thenaming.
What I wanted for our audiencelistening to this is that and
this is something I'm reallykeen to understand is that if we
think about your portfolio ofthose six ships and then how you
match them to the itinerary, sois it very intentional based on
the size of the ship?
Clearly these are all boutique.
They're smaller ships, so it'smuch more expedition-style
cruising.
(16:08):
But are you typically trying tomatch a ship to a destination
or are they intended to beinterchangeable, so that you
could take the grandeur and theycould do Europe one year and
North America the next?
How does that work?
I'm genuinely keen tounderstand that.
Steve Odell (16:23):
Well, they are interchangeable, definitely, and
but I think you know, if youlook at our deployment, the
Mediterranean well, europe,including Northern Europe,
mediterranean and also theCaribbean, are the two core
destinations for ultra luxurytravelers, so we tend to put
more capacity into those areas.
(16:45):
So you'll tend to find that theExplorer class ships, that's,
the Explorer, the Grander andthe Splendor, would spend a lot
more time in those destinations.
But as we've grown into sixships, we've actually branched
out.
So now we have the Explorerclass ship will spend half the
year in North America and thenthe other half will go to Asia
(17:05):
and Australia and New Zealand,and the importance of that is we
obviously want to showcase thenext generation of ships in our
new market.
So, with the Explorer going toAsia and Australia and New
Zealand, we're successfullybeing able to do that.
(17:26):
With the Navigator, which is oursmallest ship, just under 500
guests, we tend to do kind ofmore off the beaten track,
boutique-y kind of.
The ship's a bit smaller, so wecan get to some more smaller,
unique ports.
The idea really, though, is,with these small kind of ships,
is to try to get to places wherethe huge ships don't get, so
that when you go, when you goashore, you get um a much better
(17:49):
shore experience without thecrowds.
Of course you have to go tohallmark ports like barcelona or
new york or southampton, butwhat we try to do is build
itineraries where there'suniqueness of ports, like
smaller places where you canstill have great experiences but
there are less people.
Dan Christian (18:10):
Right, and obviously I'm clear that the
onboard experience you mentionedabout the number of inclusions
obviously that's an importantfactor for people with their
decision-making.
The luxury suites themselvesWe'll be right back.
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Now back to the show.
The one other thing I wanted todive into a bit is on the
service side, since that isobviously what um can really set
a brand apart and clearly um,it's at the heart of what you do
is being able to deliver onthese incredible experiences.
So is there a formula for thatin terms of um?
(20:02):
You know the I guess, the guestto staff ratio that sometimes
people point to to kind of givepeople a sense.
But obviously you know as wellas anybody it's not about the
number of people, it's about thequality of the people are there
and how great they are doingtheir job.
So, uh, but yeah, how do youapproach service and kind of
delivering that that wow factorfor your guests to ensure they
come back?
Steve Odell (20:20):
it's interesting you use those words the heart of
what we do, because we just uh,we just produced a video series
about individuals working onboard and their longevity with
the company and their commitmentto the business and their
service ethics.
So it kind of speaks to that.
We have a lot of long-termreturning crew.
You know, even with theinterruption of COVID for those
(20:45):
two or three years, our crewlargely came back and you know,
for the guests it's almost likea feeling of coming home.
They know crew members, they'reconnected to them, they keep in
touch with them when they'renot on the ships and I think
that that whole service cultureis critical to the brand the
warmth of friendliness but theinobtrusiveness of it as well.
(21:08):
People might be more private,we respect privacy, but they
also like the camaraderie.
So we've put a lot of focus ontraining and standards.
And to come to region to workon board, you pass a stringent
process to learn what the regionservice is all about.
Dan Christian (21:30):
So service is king for sure, and I guess
that's where I wanted to go next, in terms of the, the guest and
the actual experience and whatyou've seen post-pandemic, with
consumer behavior changingclearly.
That was a a theme and theorigin of the show, and part of
the reason I wanted to do thecruise series is because when we
looked at the 2019 numbers forCLIA compared to 2023, and you
(21:52):
look at the trajectory andpeople, it's remarkable, right.
So forget 2019, it's newrecords in 23 and 24, 25,.
You know the industry has abright future in the next five
years plus.
So, but with that, obviously,you have new customers coming
into the market.
You have other customers comingback.
What would you say has remainedthe same in terms of consumer
(22:12):
behavior and what have you seenthat has changed?
That has also caused you toadjust some aspects of your
itineraries to suit the kind ofthe customers you're now seeing
post pandemic.
Steve Odell (22:24):
It's a very good question.
It's a very good question.
(22:45):
I mean, you know, if I go backto 2020, the beginning of 2020,
when we entered into that COVIDperiod, the cruise industry was
written off by a lot of people,you know, a lot of commentators,
a lot of investors.
You know, would the cruiseindustry ever come back in the
same way?
And, as you rightly say, itcame back stronger and better?
I mean, last year, 32 millionpeople took a cruise.
That was bigger than 19.
And the projection for 2027 is40 million.
You know, we're building moreships.
There are 24 more ships, 25more ships going to be built
between now and 2028.
(23:07):
So the belief in cruising andthe belief in how the
demographic fits, the potential,is unquestionable.
What's different?
I think we're attracting morepeople who see the value and see
the safety and security thatcruising delivers.
(23:28):
And you know we're seeing a lotof people come from outside of
travel or migrating up withincruise brands.
So someone who might have done,you know, a sort of premium
cruise has traded up to luxurybecause they see the value of
the inclusions, because in themeantime, you've noticed, hotels
(23:48):
, airlines, everything's becomemuch more expensive post-COVID.
So we are seeing a new kind ofpassenger coming from within the
cruise sector and from outside.
From outside they're comingfrom all sorts of different
kinds of experiences land staycustomers, villa customers,
(24:09):
yachts, safaris.
They're coming from a widerange of other categories of
travel, because I think peopleare seeing that you know, this
is a really great way to see alot of places with ease of
travel and I go back to it value, because we include everything.
When you go by land, you payfor a hotel normally, but then
(24:31):
you end up paying for most ofthe things you enjoy.
So I think we've had arenaissance post-COVID, which is
fantastic and the confidence inthe sector is huge.
Dan Christian (24:42):
Well, and you've kind of alluded to something
which is the challenges thatcome with that growth.
So you've highlighted the stateof the industry is growth and a
real positive trajectory.
I'd also like to just touch onsome of the challenges that I
think you would be bestpositioned to identify that
exist within the cruise industrytoday.
(25:02):
I'll mention two.
One, in general terms, acrossthe industry, is this concept of
over-tourism and destinationsstarting to push back,
especially where some cruiselines would travel to in the
past, like Venice, probably themost um uh familiar example for
people.
Um, so that's one aspect, andthe other one, of course, is
sustainability, um, which I knowis is um one aspect that the
(25:23):
industry has been criticized inthe past.
I know the industry is making alot of progress on that front.
Steve Odell (25:33):
Um, so yeah, so yeah.
Tell us about some of thechallenges and how you're
overcoming them.
Well, I mean, there are a lotof.
You know there are headwinds.
They're always going to beheadwinds all the time.
If they're not geopoliticalones, they're things like over
tourism, and we've seen a littlebit of that in the current year
, particularly bit of that inthe current year particularly.
(25:57):
We have a sustainability programwhich we follow for the whole
company.
It's called Sail and Sustain.
If your listeners want to lookat it, it's in our investor
website.
We're doing a whole range ofthings that are based around
what we do about waste treatment, water treatment, emissions.
There are a stack of thingsthat we work on ongoing.
When we build new ships, ofcourse, we're able to
(26:20):
incorporate a lot of the latesttechnology Things like shore
power, for example, where youdon't run your engines in port.
Things like shore power, forexample, where you don't run
your engines in port.
You take a plug, if you like,to the port and you use local
shore power.
So there's a lot of initiatives.
I mean it's a huge subject and,frankly, you know it's going to
(26:45):
take time over the years to getreally adjusted, but I think
we're doing a lot of verypositive things environmentally.
But I think we're doing a lotof very positive things
environmentally.
You know, over tourism is alwaysa double edged sword because we
bring a lot to the economies ofthe countries we visit.
You know I can particularlytalk about Australia in this
respect because I was involvedin it.
I was the chair of theassociation there for four years
(27:10):
and you know this was always abig subject that we discussed
with the local economies there.
Because, you know, a cruiseship visit brings dollars, lots
of dollars, and supports localcommunities.
It supports hotels, it supportsshore excursion operators, it
supports restaurants.
You know Australia alonebelieves that the cruise
industry brings $5 billion ofeconomic value to their part of
(27:33):
the world.
So you know, I think there's a,you know there is a sort of, if
you like, a fine line betweenwhat is the economic benefit and
what are the issues.
You know the negative issuesthat communities see around
cruise ships coming, I believe,over.
On balance they bring greatvalue to communities because
(27:55):
they bring economic impact.
But we perfectly understandthat not all small communities
want the kind of tourism.
So we have to work with thelocal communities as an
organization, we have to workwith the local communities to
find the best compromise.
One of the things we've beendoing is investing in ports and
(28:18):
local communities.
We've been able to do thatparticularly in Alaska, where
we've actually been developingport infrastructure and bringing
the economic benefit to thelocal communities by working
with the local authorities.
It's a huge subject, to behonest with you, dan, but I
(28:40):
think you can see if yourlisteners dig a bit deeper on
our company, we're really givinga lot back and trying to, you
know, find the right balance.
Dan Christian (28:50):
Yeah, and that's part of the reason I wanted to
ask you that question, becausethere's so much positive that
comes with travel but obviouslyjust acknowledging the
challenges and how best tonavigate those.
And I think that's where Iwanted to go next in terms of
some of the trends that we'reseeing, because clearly one of
the things that stood out to meand again part of the reason I
wanted to have this conversationwith you is that you know we
are both just together atvirtuoso in las vegas.
(29:10):
Clearly, you've been going foryears, I, you know this was my
second time going and I gained alot last year and this year in
terms of the, the trends thatthey were sharing and clearly
one of the it almost seems likethere's an insatiable demand for
expedition cruisingpost-pandandemic so the ultra
luxury market is continuing toboom and this particular style
(29:33):
of cruising is massivelyover-indexing compared to other
categories.
So I guess that's where Iwanted to get a sense from you,
like the trends that you'reseeing, and where that growth is
coming from.
Steve Odell (29:46):
Well, I think you know, in terms of destination
cruising is often the best andmost comfortable way to travel
to some of these destinations.
And I use the example whichVirtuoso used in their opening
presentation in their conference.
(30:06):
They talked about the colderdestinations, they talked about
Greenland and Iceland and ofcourse, you know, accessibility
means that cruise ships mediumsize and smaller size are the
best way to go to visit thesedestinations.
And you know, it was verysatisfying to hear that broad
(30:27):
trend because it's somethingwe're doing ourselves.
You know we're focused towardssome cruises around Reykjavik.
We combine some of them withthe British Isles so we go to
some of the more remote islandsof the British Isles and then we
do around Iceland cruises.
You know, some of it's sceniccruising, some of it's not even
landing but some of it's justlooking at the beautiful scenery
(30:47):
of it's scenic cruising.
Some of it's not even landingbut some of it's just looking at
the beautiful scenery.
And then, of course, greenlandis another area which is opening
up for tourism by cruise ships.
I think there are two differentcategories of ships here the
expedition ships, the smallerones, the specialist companies
where they have zodiac boats onboard.
(31:08):
The specialist companies wherethey have zodiac boats on board,
you know, have the ability toactually do landings in these
destinations.
For the some of the biggerships it's more coastal
sightseeing, if you like, samewith Antarctica.
I mean, we do, we do coastalcruising in Antarctica, we go
down as far as Antarctica.
The difference with theexpedition cruises is they
actually have they carry, youknow, a.
(31:28):
The expedition cruises is theyactually have they carry, you
know, a dozen Zodiac boats andthey actually land people on the
ice.
I did that myself last Januaryand it was just an awesome
experience Just being there inthe beauty and the silence of
Antarctica.
And you can do that the bigship comfortable way or you can
do it the expedition way, whereyou really you know where you're
(31:49):
on land and you're up front andclose and personal.
Dan Christian (31:53):
Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned cool-cations.
That was a new term for me.
Steve Odell (31:58):
Cool-cations, cool-cations.
Dan Christian (32:01):
Given climate change and global warming,
people are looking at travelingin shoulder seasons.
They're more likely to go toScandinavia in the peak summer
months.
Yeah, exactly traveling inshoulder seasons, they're more
likely to go to Scandinavia inthe peak summer months.
Along those lines, one of thethings I wanted to ask you about
technology and the innovationsthat you are delivering on for
Regent's Ever Seas customers howare you viewing the
(32:24):
introduction of new technologiesto create a more seamless guest
experience?
I know Virgin Voyages, forexample.
They try and handle everythingwith an app on board so they're
not making constantannouncements and people know
when they're just embarking, andso clever ways to kind of
address some of the pain pointsassociated with cruising, and
one of the I continuously hearfrom people you speak to whether
(32:47):
they love cruising or they'vetried it and and um was the fact
they have to wait to get offthe ship and that whole process.
Steve Odell (32:53):
Um, so I guess I'm keen to know how you embrace
technology at regent seven seas,where you're seeing some of the
benefits and maybe some of thethings you have coming up in
2025 well, you know it's a veryinteresting conversation about
service actually, because you,as someone said to me recently,
I'd rather order my martini froma barman at a bar than on an
(33:16):
iPad with a QR code, and I thinkthere's a lot to be said for
that, you know.
I mean the big ship companieshave to process a lot of people,
and quickly.
They have to provide a certainstandard of service and I think
technology has particularlystepped up in respect for those
kind of cruise companies.
For us, you know, we'reboutique luxury hotels.
(33:37):
People don't want to order adrink off of an iPad, they want
to talk to the barman and enjoythe service and the smile and
the conversation.
So I think for us, you know, wehave to be a modern,
contemporary company and we haveto use technology to make the
whole operation efficient thing.
(33:57):
In luxury, you know, it's morepersonal and I think that you
know there's a fine line againwith the luxury customer on how
you, you know you have to bestaffed well, you have to have
the right staff, you have todeliver on time.
We can use technology, for, youknow, more efficiency, for
example, in boarding process,you know, getting on and off the
(34:21):
ship, in how we organizeourselves in terms of bookings
and restaurant bookings and soon, but I think, when it comes
down to the day-to-day serviceaspect on board, we are a
human-driven company rather thanan app-driven company?
Dan Christian (34:41):
Yeah for sure, and that's staying close to the
customer, knowing their needs,and so on.
That exact topic, um, thegrowth plans for region seven
seas.
Um, in the next few yearsobviously got the six ships.
You mentioned.
About the number of new shipsthat are being added across the
industry, I'm keen to know whatI guess your plans are for
introducing new ships, newdestinations.
(35:02):
And the other thing I'd like toget your take on, too steve, is
that how you're driving growth.
Is it marketing campaigns?
Is it?
Is it trade?
I mean, it's obviously onething to introduce the ships,
introduce the new itineraries,which is great for repeat guests
, that people want to come backand travel with you, but clearly
you need to fill many of thoseitineraries by introducing new
people.
So I'd love to know how you'redriving growth as well for
(35:24):
Regency Well we, we recentlyannounced, uh, two additional uh
ships for our fleet.
Steve Odell (35:31):
They'll be delivered in 26 and 29 um.
This is, um uh, the prestigeclass of ship.
Um, so we are going to grow thebusiness um uh considerably in
the next um five years.
Uh, the first of the ships isgoing to be 77,000 tons, so the
(35:52):
current Explorer class of 55,000tons.
So it's a bigger ship but only50 more suites, 100 more people.
So I think, following a trendthere, we're looking to expand
with giving people more spaceand better service, and we
anticipate that that's going tobe one of the demands of the
(36:13):
luxury customer coming up.
So there is expansion.
We're going to releaseinformation on the Prestige
class over the coming months,but there's going to be a lot of
nice new innovation for ourbrand, you know, anticipating
what the customer of the futurewill want.
So that's a very exciting thingthat's happening.
(36:33):
Itineraries we're really, youknow, one of the things that I
mentioned already is we try toget early booking.
So we've already launched up tothe middle of 2027.
So it's possible to bookitineraries up to the middle of
2027.
And we're looking at, you know,we have core tried and trusted
destinations but we're tryingsome new things.
(36:55):
So one of the things we have inour new program are what we
call immersive itineraries, andthese are itineraries where you
go on a 10-day cruise butinstead of going to a port a day
for 10 days, you go to fourports and you stay two days.
So in other words I'll give youan example you go from Venice
(37:16):
to Athens, so you get two nightsin Venice, two nights in
Dubrovnik, two nights inMontenegro, two nights in Athens
.
That gives you the opportunityto spend two days of
investigating and actuallytouring and actually getting an
overnight stop as well, so whereyou might go out to dinner
locally or you might go on acity tour at night to see the
(37:38):
light.
So we're trying to differentiateourselves by offering different
kinds of cruises.
So we've got 15 of thosecruises on sale between now and
2027.
There's really great demand forthem from regulars and from
first-timers and this is wherewe're trying to target the new
customer coming from Landstay.
(37:59):
So you know, the coreMediterranean and Caribbean, as
I said, is core market.
Where we are also seeing a lotof growth and we've added more
itineraries is Japan, becauseculturally and getting around
and you know, generallytraveling there as a foreigner
(38:21):
is a little more complex thansome other places in the world,
but a cruise is a really aluxury cruise is a really great
way to go there because youunpack once, we take you
basically from Tokyo all aroundthe coast, you cross over into
Korea or into China to Shanghaiand you're seeing a lot of this
(38:42):
country from east to west and inreal comfort.
These are among ourbest-selling cruises.
Dan Christian (38:49):
We'll be right back.
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And now back to the show.
Clearly, given the demographicsand the high level of service
and the focus of our previousseries was all in the
renaissance of the traveladvisor and clearly you um we've
just talked about virtuosodoing, you know, 34 billion
dollars a year in global sales.
It's so, there's incredible.
And Matthew Upturge, I thought,actually did a great job during
the press session.
(41:00):
Someone actually asked him thequestion about B2B versus B2C,
which is sort of a, and he veryeloquently answered that by
saying the smartest businessesdo both successfully.
Even the best B2C companies arehere at Virtuoso showcasing
their product to b2b partners.
So, um, I realize the answerfor a company of your size and
scale has to be both, but I justI guess I'd like to you to
(41:22):
speak to that a bit more to helpus understand.
You know how much is comingthrough the trade, how much
comes from direct.
You know, you have the exactpercentages, but how you're, how
you're looking at growing bothof those um areas.
Steve Odell (41:32):
Well, I mean, it's fair to say that the trade will
always be our most importantchannel of distribution, and
there are many reasons for that,but not least that travel
partners have powerful machinesthat drive demand.
They also have frontlineadvisors and owners of agencies
(41:56):
that are well connected in theirown communities and have very
established businesses and sella lot of products.
They don't just sell cruiseproducts, so it will always be
the main focus of our activity.
You know, we have a huge salesforce to support it.
We have trade marketingspecialists that support it, and
I would say we enjoy a reallygreat relationship across the
(42:18):
board.
But what we can't ignore isthat we have to feed it as well,
because we have to end up beingthe cruise line of choice, and
so we do a lot of work in ourmarketing to drive demand, to
drive leads, and we have peoplethat work the leads.
(42:39):
The business that results fromthat is transferable to a travel
agency if the client wishes todo so.
So you're right, we play inboth channels, but without doubt
the travel agent channel is themost important.
That's why we invest so much init.
But you know the when we get alead and we convert them to
(43:02):
Regent and they're not offeredanything else as an alternative.
That's a win-win for us.
You know, the the two you havein the trade channel is that
there are choices and there aretravel agents that are super
loyal to us.
There are others that movetheir clients around.
The objective for us is to getthe client for region and you
(43:22):
know, however, we get to do that.
You know we sell a lot on boardon behalf of travel agents.
We encourage travel agents toget their clients to book when
they're on board.
We have a cruise sales office.
Those bookings go immediatelyback to travel agents agents.
So we do a lot of business inthat sphere as well.
But today, in today's world,you know we've got to play in
(43:43):
all channels.
It's a reality and I think uh,you know, matthew said it travel
agents realize that and and thework we do, um with b2c um,
largely results back you in areturn to the travel agency
anyway.
So their job is done for them.
Dan Christian (43:59):
Yeah, my aunt, interestingly on that topic, my
aunt is a uh, she works forExpedia cruise ship centers and
she loves cruise, she sellscruise, she's a retired teacher
and uh, so she'll put everyoneand anyone on a cruise that she
can.
She can because not only doesshe love it, but she wants other
people to have that experienceas well.
And it's remarkable the numberof younger people um so cousins,
and that all work with her andwork with a travel advisor to
(44:22):
handle their bookings.
They want that personalrecommendation and service and
they trust rather than trying todo the research themselves on
multiple sites and trying tofigure out the right cabin.
So, yeah, you highlighted manybenefits, so it's um now in in
terms of um, uh, there's twoother things I wanted to touch
on with you in our chat today.
I mean, there's there's so much,but I the the couple of things
I wanted to to finish off on iswhen you look at the industry
(44:47):
going forward.
I would love to get your takeon how you think the industry
will evolve the next few years.
But just given that you see theindustry so clearly from your
vantage point, both in Miami andbeing part of such a leading
organization, are there anythings that we haven't touched
on as far as where you see theindustry going or region seven
C's within that, where you knowyou are clearly, you know,
(45:10):
positioning yourself for along-term leadership advantage
in this category.
Steve Odell (45:13):
Well, I think you know, the big thing for me is we
have to think globally.
You know, we know where thecore business is and we should
always be focused on that.
But we also need to look atwhere the growth is going to be
in the future, and we're veryfocused on that.
I mean, asia is an obviousplace to talk about.
You know it's a very it's thelargest concentration of wealth
(45:34):
in the world and still prettymuch you know it's a very it's a
largest concentration of wealthin the world, um, and still
pretty much, you know, unexposedto, to um luxury cruises, um,
but we're seeing more, uh,luxury cruises going into that
area and people are getting moreawareness.
So I think, um, you know asiais an except you know, as a one,
I pull out, but a globalapproach to our distribution is
(45:57):
is super important.
We're very focused on that.
But you know, in in NorthAmerica, um, don't forget, you
know like one, 2% of thepopulation, um are, uh have
cruised.
Look at the potential there isto grow in this market alone.
I mean, we've got to get peopleover the line and trying
(46:20):
cruises for the first time,because we find in all of our
business, in all of our brandsthat as soon as you convert a
customer, they'll stay.
So you know you fish where youknow you're going to catch, but
you have to have a vision forwhere it's going as well.
And you know the generationalshift is another big issue to
(46:43):
consider.
You know the millennials andthe Gen X.
Where are they?
You know what are they going towant, where are they going to
be?
What kind of experience do theywant?
It was very interesting.
I read an article recently andthis goes back to travel agents
where millennials are morelikely to trust a travel agent
than the boomers, and then theboomers are really aligned to
(47:06):
travel agencies.
So I think there's a hugeopportunity for travel agents to
capture the next generation,and it's all about selling their
service and what they can doand their knowledge.
The best travel agencies areinvesting in knowledge.
They're traveling themselves,they can talk about the products
, they can package thingstogether, they can recommend,
they're trusted, and I thinkthat's where we have to
(47:29):
concentrate.
We have to find the rightpeople who support us and really
dig deeper with them.
Dan Christian (47:36):
Yeah, now, given you've got such experience you
mentioned 30 plus years in thisspace and many of our listeners
are either interested in workingin the travel category, clearly
cruise, given the conversationwe're having people coming back
to our industry, given thechallenges that we all faced and
the fact that most companiesare also still now struggling to
recruit and hire.
(47:56):
So we have new people cominginto our industry.
We have people coming back.
And the one last question I'dlike to ask you before I give
you the final word is that isthere any advice that you would
give to someone listening tothis that's starting out their
career in the cruise industry?
Steve Odell (48:11):
Well, it's a fantastic business and you know
it might not be the best paidbusiness, if you like.
When people are starting out,they might see, you know, more
attractive areas to work in inthe world or in industry, have
(48:38):
such a great experience of goingto work and you know you, you
you're selling dreams and peoplelike like that it's.
It's a really um greatmotivational part of of the um,
of the work life, um to toconsider, um you know, I've done
it for a long time, um, I'vemanaged to see a bit of the
world in the process, um, alwaysmeeting nice people,
understanding different cultures.
It's a business that's aliveand it's just a great place to
(49:04):
work.
And I think you've got toaccept sometimes that you start
from grassroots I did and youfind your way through and you
grow and you use your experienceto go to the next level.
So, yeah, I would recommend thecruise business, also, more
broadly, the travel business, toanyone starting out.
But be patient because itdoesn't happen overnight.
(49:27):
You know it takes time to buildknowledge and reputation, but
it's worth investing in becauseyou know I had a very satisfying
career personally and I knowI've got a lot of colleagues who
feel exactly the same way.
Dan Christian (49:40):
That's amazing, steve.
I'm so glad I asked you thatquestion.
There were so many valuablepoints you just shared, so I
couldn't agree more oncommitting to a life and travel.
I want to give you the lastword here.
So if people want to find outmore about Region 7Cs either
travel advisors listening tothis or customers that are like
just discovered theseitineraries, um, or yourself for
(50:00):
that matter, but uh yeah, wherecan people go for more
information?
Steve Odell (50:03):
okay.
Well, I would say the the bestplace to start is at our website
, rssccom.
Um, there you'll find prettymuch everything I've been
talking about today, fromitineraries and chips, but
there's also a travel agentcenter, which has an absolute
goldmine of information andtools our program talking about
(50:34):
demographics, how to find thecustomer, how to talk to the
customer, how to communicatethere's a lot of really very
valuable information.
And on top of that, of course,back to people, we have our
(50:54):
dedicated sales force all aroundthe country, a strong team of
people, and actually in theglobal offices of our company in
the UK, in Sydney, in Australia, in Singapore, tokyo, all
around the world, we have a teamof dedicated professionals that
help support travel agents, ontop of all these other things
that you can read and use in ourwebsite.
So, rsfccom.
Dan Christian (51:15):
Awesome, that's great, steve.
Thank you so much for makingthe time for this.
It's been such a pleasure tospeak to you and I look forward
to staying in touch and seeingyou at some more conferences
over the course of the year.
Steve Odell (51:23):
Thanks Dan, very much Good to see you.
Thank you.
Dan Christian (51:25):
Great to have you with us.
Thanks so much for joining ourlatest episode of Travel Trends.
I hope you're enjoying our deepdive into cruises and the
conversation we had today withSteve O'Dell from Region 7 Seas.
Stay tuned, because we've gotscenic cruises coming up next,
followed by Princess and then HXHerdegurt and Expeditions will
be joining us as we round outour very first deep dive into
(51:46):
ocean cruises and, as you heardfrom the beginning, we're
definitely going to continue onthis series in season five.
We've had a great deal ofinterest, especially around the
idea of us doing river cruises.
We are just in the process ofstarting to shoot season five,
so if you have suggestions fortopics, guests or want to get
involved as a partner or sponsor, be sure to reach out to us.
You can feel free to email me,dan, at traveltrendspodcastcom,
(52:10):
or check out our website andfill out our partner form right
there on the website.
Don't forget we also send out amonthly newsletter with a
roundup of all of our episodesand plans for the upcoming month
.
So make sure to register atTravelTrendsPodcastcom and don't
forget to connect with us onthe social channels Instagram,
LinkedIn and YouTube.
Until next time, safe travels.
Hello everyone and welcome back to Travel
Trends.
This is your host, danChristian, and I am just back
from an incredible week inLondon where I gave a keynote at
the World Travel MarketConference.
Along with my friend, matthewGardner, we were highlighting
the top digital trends to payattention to for 2025, which was
synthesized from about 100episodes of this show, and you
(00:33):
can find many of the clips andhighlights on our social
channels on Instagram, linkedinand YouTube at Travel Trends
Podcast.
I also had the privilege togive a keynote on route in
Reykjavik, iceland, at theCaptio Unite conference.
I wanted to say thanks again toRagnar and the team for the
invitation and being such bigfans of the show and, lastly, I
wanted to make sure thateveryone knows we're going to be
(00:54):
at the Focusrite conference inPhoenix, arizona next week,
november 19th to 21st.
We're an official media partner.
We'll have a booth and we'll berecording Travel Trends podcast
live and we'll also beproducing a summary episode that
will highlight all of the major, exciting developments from
Focusrite this year.
Hopefully, you can join us and,if not, stay tuned for that
(01:14):
episode.
We're thrilled to have thisopportunity and we're looking
forward to seeing Pete Gene andthe entire team there shortly.
Now I'm excited to return to ourdeep dive into ocean cruising.
We, of course, kicked thingsoff last week with Virgin
Voyages, who is a relativenewcomer and also an independent
in this large world of oceancruising.
There are actually three majorplayers in this space there's
(01:36):
Carnival, there's RoyalCaribbean and there's Norwegian,
and the company that we'regoing to be focusing on today,
regent Seven Seas, is actuallypart of the Norwegian group, and
then we're going to be focusingon today, regent Seven Seas is
actually part of the Norwegiangroup.
And then we're going to haveScenic, which is known for river
cruising but also has Ocean,also an independent, similar to
Virgin Voyages, and then we'regoing to have Princess Cruises,
which is actually part of theCarnival group, and then we're
(01:56):
going to finish up by having HXfrom the Hurtigerton group.
As we talk about expeditioncruising, my hope with this
series, a collection ofinterviews, is that it gives all
of our listeners and myself forthat matter a good
understanding at least initialunderstanding, of the world of
ocean cruising.
But, based on the initialfeedback from partners and
listeners, we're definitelygoing to continue this
(02:18):
conversation in season five.
We've had a number of companiesreach out to be interviewed and
a number of companies that arekeen to sponsor, and so thank
you for all that feedback andinterest.
And, on that exact note, Iwanted to recognize our friends
at Jeb Commerce for stepping upand sponsoring this very first
series.
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(02:40):
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Be sure to reach out to themtoday.
All right, now it's time towelcome our next guest.
Steve O'Dell is the Chief SalesOfficer for Regent Seven Seas,
(03:23):
based in Miami, florida.
He's spent his entire career inthe cruise industry nearly 20
years at Silversea Cruises,based in Europe, and then the
last decade he's been inAustralia and then just recently
relocated to Miami to take onthis new role and it's a
pleasure to introduce him to youand get his take on everything
that's happening in the cruiseindustry.
(03:44):
It's so great to have you onthe Travel Trends podcast.
Thanks for making the time tojoin us.
Steve Odell (03:48):
Thank you very much for having me.
I'm looking forward to chattingto you.
Dan Christian (03:51):
Likewise.
I think people got a good ideafrom that introduction there of
your impressive background inthe cruise industry your time at
Silversea and then nowNorwegian and specifically
Region 7C.
So I'm so keen to get your takeon the ocean cruise category.
But I'd love to start to giveeveryone a bit of an idea of how
you actually got into thisindustry in the first place.
Steve Odell (04:10):
Oh well, I really got into it by default.
I was studying at universityback in the UK and I had to do
an internship for a couple ofsummers and I ended up working
for a UK cruise company&O.
And luck was on my side becausewhen I graduated they offered
me a full-time job and sincethen I've worked in the cruise
(04:34):
business and I've been verylucky to work all around the
world doing this job as well.
I spent some time in Australia.
I did start up for Silversea inAustralia back in 2001.
And then I spent a bit of timewith head office with them in
Monaco and then I went back toAustralia with this job with
(04:54):
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdingsin 2015.
So I feel very privileged.
I've lived all around the worldand I think that really helps
you grow as a person.
You know, you understand peopleand culture and the way that
different people think.
So I feel very privileged tohave first of all worked in the
cruise business but done that ina lot of places.
I recently moved to Miami, sothat's sort of the final piece
(05:17):
of the puzzle really in terms ofthe global travel.
So I moved here in April forthis new job at head office.
Dan Christian (05:25):
Oh, that's perfect, and that's exactly why
I wanted to have thisconversation with you, because,
knowing your global profile inthe industry, and exactly what
you just described is that whenyou have a full understanding of
where we source customers fromand the types of trips you send
them on, it's really importantto have a cultural understanding
of each of these markets and bebased in the market, as you now
(05:46):
are in Miami, which isobviously one of the big hubs
for the cruise industry.
So tell us a little bit aboutRegent Seven Seas in particular.
So for those listeners, for theuninitiated, how would you
describe the brand and give usjust a bit of an overview of the
company if you wouldn't?
Steve Odell (06:01):
mind.
Oh sure, well, we have 30 yearsof heritage and today we sit in
really the sort of pinnacle ofthe business, if you like, the
ultra luxury segment of cruising, where the ships are smaller.
We're really defining luxury assmall inclusive, as small
(06:21):
inclusive and the ultimate placeto travel.
So there are very few playersin this top sector.
We are absolutely one of themand we claim to have the top
position.
Very interesting.
Dan Christian (06:35):
And so you were at once part of the Radisson
Seven Seas but then became partof Norwegian, I guess about 10
years ago now.
So I'm assuming from that point, obviously things have and you
came on in 2015.
So literally right after thathappened.
So you're obviously your role.
(06:55):
There is incredibly importantto scale this business.
So tell us a little bit whathappened after Norwegian came in
and obviously really decidedthis was going to be a growth
focus category for them.
Steve Odell (07:03):
Well, as you say, the business started back at the
end of the 90s with a ship, theRadisson Diamond, and since
then we added the Mariner andthe Voyager.
But I guess a turning point forthis business was after the
merger into Norwegian, when welaunched the Explorer-class
ships.
These were a new generation ofgroundbreaking ships.
(07:25):
I mean, to me they were gamechangers and that's elevated
Regent's position in thebusiness, in the luxury cruise
business, since then.
So it's been a journey, youknow, 30 years of evolution and
of course you really have tosort of to be at the top, you
have to be groundbreaking andyou have to be innovators and I
think we've very successfullypositioned ourselves with that.
Dan Christian (07:48):
Yeah, well, and this is where for this deep dive
into ocean cruising and many ofthe questions I have for you
today will hopefully not onlyenlighten me but our audience on
this sector, this category, andone of the things that amazed
me when I saw CLIA doing apresentation earlier this year
at the cruise summit and theywere highlighting the fact
there's 300 cruise ships, and Iremember having that.
I guess, thinking it through, itjust always seemed like there'd
(08:09):
be more than that when youthink about the number of
companies and um, and so one ofthe things I wanted to kind of
spend some time on is exactlywhat you just started to
describe, which is the type ofships that you offer, because
obviously, that that is whatthat is one of the key
attributes that sets uh cruiselines apart.
So tell us a little bit aboutthe different class of ships
that you have, um, and also, ifyou wouldn't mind, some of the
(08:32):
most popular itineraries anddestinations that you serve,
because I also came to quicklyunderstand that the caribbean is
by far and away the number onecruise destination in the world.
So yeah I'd love to understand abit more about the ships and
the destinations you serve.
Steve Odell (08:44):
Yeah, and I think you know what you're saying is
very true.
I mean, cruising gets wrappedup under a banner but rather
like the hotel business, thereare many different types of
hotels and experiences.
There are many types of cruisesand experiences.
So you have the big ships and Ithink you know, largely for the
uneducated population, forcruising, they would see that as
(09:07):
what a cruise ship is all about.
You know big ships floatingaround carrying hundreds of
people.
Actually, you know that is apart of the market.
But you've also got, at theother end of the scale,
expedition ships with 100passengers.
So you know there's somethingfor everybody out there and I
always challenge people whenthey ask me about cruising and
what should they do.
(09:27):
I always challenge people bysaying, well, what do you like
to do hotel wise?
Because there'll be somethingout there that will match.
For you.
To define Regent, I mean we sit,I would consider us to be a
boot luxury hotel.
So we're, you know, 350 rooms.
We carry a small number ofpassengers with a lot of space,
(09:49):
and you know we really focustowards a high level of service,
highly trained crew, peoplethat really provide what I'd
call intuitive service.
You know it's sort ofanticipating what people might
want before the passengers askfor it.
I mean, that's the ultimatedisplay of service.
(10:09):
But it's all about good servicegreat architecture, luxurious
surroundings, good food,bringing all those things
together into one luxury hotelafloat.
Dan Christian (10:17):
And then, in terms of the customer, I mean
clearly it is, as you described,boutique hotel, so it's
high-end, it's luxury and thenin terms of the customer, I mean
clearly it is, as you described, boutique hotel, so it's high
end, it's luxury, and I can thenkind of assume, as many of our
listeners might as well, thetype of customer.
But I'd love you to kind ofbreak it down for us because I
do find this fascinating.
We had Virgin Voyages as partof this series and Scenic as
(10:38):
well, and these conversations.
I really do find themfascinating because clearly
you're trying to make sure thatthe ships, the itineraries, the
brand connects with your targetaudience and you can fill the
ships and obviously runprofitable sailing.
So tell us a little bit aboutwho is the kind of the ideal
client profile for a region trip, like what is a typical cruise
customer for you?
(10:58):
Where are they and what aresome of the demographics or even
psychographics that they fallinto and what are some?
Steve Odell (11:04):
of the demographics or even psychographics that
they fall into.
Yeah, I think you know, if youtake an average across the year,
it probably gives you the wrongperception of what we are and
who we are.
You know we're in the 40 to 60age group category across the
average of the year, but youknow the demographic can be
lower and it can be different atdifferent times of the year.
(11:25):
So if we're operating seven-daycruises, for example, we could
get 30, 40-year-olds.
But if we're operating longcruises, like world cruises and
grand voyages, we're going tohave a much more senior group of
people.
And then in between you get alot of multi-generational
families coming these days wheregrandparents will bring their
kids and their grandkids andtheir great grandkids.
(11:46):
So we're getting a real mix.
But you know, in a way the pricepoint dictates the kind of
customer we have.
You know these are luxurybuyers.
They're people that are used tovery high standards, they're
experienced travelers and so wetend to get, you know, typically
we get a 40 to 60 year oldmarket.
(12:07):
They come from all around theworld and for us that's very
important because the culturalmix, you know, if you have too
many of one nationality, itdoesn't create the same kind of
feeling or experience as if youhave a mix from across the, you
know, across the globe.
So we have big.
We have a big market in Europe.
(12:28):
We also have a huge market inAustralia, but our core market
is North America.
Dan Christian (12:34):
Right, and I was looking at some of the
itineraries, assuming that waslikely the case, given, I mean,
you've got trips from Vancouverto Tokyo, but like even Montreal
to Boston, I was reallyintrigued by your itinerary.
Talk a little bit about theprice point, and I know I'll be
careful in that regard, becauseone of the things that I
certainly know from all my timeworking in travel and marketing
travel, especially working withUniworld, is that people fix
(12:56):
something on the price.
You need to sell the differencefirst, because if you look at
the exterior of a ship,especially a river cruise ship,
they look very similar, but, asyou were describing with uh,
with a hotel, it's a vastlydifference to experience between
a holiday in and a four seasons, clearly clear.
And if people just see theprice, they may um not fully
understand, because what I wasseeing in preparation for a call
like and, and knowing um a bitabout the brand, is that a
(13:18):
week-long itinerary wastypically more in the ten
thousand dollar range.
Um, so I guess, is that kind ofroughly an average price point,
and what sort of itineraries I?
Steve Odell (13:28):
think the most important thing to consider is
the inclusions.
And when you get to theultra-luxury part of the cruise
business, you'll find that thebrands offer a more inclusive
approach.
So you know, for us we claim tohave the most inclusive product
.
We even include tour excursionsin our fairs, but you get
(13:52):
everything from your drinks,fine wines, wi-fi, laundry, you
know, of course, all the diningoptions.
I mean all of that is included.
So when you look at a fare, wealways encourage our guests to
consider the value of what'sincluded and not the end price
(14:12):
point.
Because, because you know youcan you can buy cruises in the
premium market or the upperpremium market or the
contemporary market, but youwill spend more money when you
go on board temporary market.
But you will spend more moneywhen you go on board, literally,
when you go on board a RegentCruise.
You could put your wallet oryour purse in your bag or in the
safe and not use it at all, notopen it.
(14:32):
So I think that value is theimportant thing.
The other thing is, you know weoffer a lot of incentives for
people who book earlier andcommit to travel.
So the price point that you seewill often come with tactical
promotions or early bookingpromotions, because the other
(14:56):
thing about the ultra luxurybusiness is people do commit
early to travel to get the rightitinerary they want and the
right accommodation.
Do commit early to travel toget the right itinerary they
want and the right accommodation.
The entry prices tend to bearound seven-day cruises, which
are largely Alaska and some inthe Mediterranean.
So that's a good starting pointfor someone who hasn't traveled
with us before.
Come and try the experience,see if you like it, and then
(15:22):
generally people trade up to 10days, 12 days and longer right.
Dan Christian (15:26):
Yeah, I remember doing my first cruise in a week
and you wanted a second week andyou were so jealous of the
people that were going to becarrying on.
So I totally get your pointthere.
Yeah, and, and when I waspreparing for our conversation,
I was looking at the shipsthemselves because from what I
could, um, I gathered there'skind of six primary ships uh the
grandeur, explorer, mariner,splendor, voyager, navigator.
I see the theme with all thenaming because, from what I
could gather, there's kind ofsix primary ships the Grandeur
Explorer, mariner, splendor,voyager, navigator.
(15:48):
I see the theme with all thenaming.
What I wanted for our audiencelistening to this is that and
this is something I'm reallykeen to understand is that if we
think about your portfolio ofthose six ships and then how you
match them to the itinerary, sois it very intentional based on
the size of the ship?
Clearly these are all boutique.
They're smaller ships, so it'smuch more expedition-style
cruising.
(16:08):
But are you typically trying tomatch a ship to a destination
or are they intended to beinterchangeable, so that you
could take the grandeur and theycould do Europe one year and
North America the next?
How does that work?
I'm genuinely keen tounderstand that.
Steve Odell (16:23):
Well, they are interchangeable, definitely, and
but I think you know, if youlook at our deployment, the
Mediterranean well, europe,including Northern Europe,
mediterranean and also theCaribbean, are the two core
destinations for ultra luxurytravelers, so we tend to put
more capacity into those areas.
(16:45):
So you'll tend to find that theExplorer class ships, that's,
the Explorer, the Grander andthe Splendor, would spend a lot
more time in those destinations.
But as we've grown into sixships, we've actually branched
out.
So now we have the Explorerclass ship will spend half the
year in North America and thenthe other half will go to Asia
(17:05):
and Australia and New Zealand,and the importance of that is we
obviously want to showcase thenext generation of ships in our
new market.
So, with the Explorer going toAsia and Australia and New
Zealand, we're successfullybeing able to do that.
(17:26):
With the Navigator, which is oursmallest ship, just under 500
guests, we tend to do kind ofmore off the beaten track,
boutique-y kind of.
The ship's a bit smaller, so wecan get to some more smaller,
unique ports.
The idea really, though, is,with these small kind of ships,
is to try to get to places wherethe huge ships don't get, so
that when you go, when you goashore, you get um a much better
(17:49):
shore experience without thecrowds.
Of course you have to go tohallmark ports like barcelona or
new york or southampton, butwhat we try to do is build
itineraries where there'suniqueness of ports, like
smaller places where you canstill have great experiences but
there are less people.
Dan Christian (18:10):
Right, and obviously I'm clear that the
onboard experience you mentionedabout the number of inclusions
obviously that's an importantfactor for people with their
decision-making.
The luxury suites themselvesWe'll be right back.
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Now back to the show.
The one other thing I wanted todive into a bit is on the
service side, since that isobviously what um can really set
a brand apart and clearly um,it's at the heart of what you do
is being able to deliver onthese incredible experiences.
So is there a formula for thatin terms of um?
(20:02):
You know the I guess, the guestto staff ratio that sometimes
people point to to kind of givepeople a sense.
But obviously you know as wellas anybody it's not about the
number of people, it's about thequality of the people are there
and how great they are doingtheir job.
So, uh, but yeah, how do youapproach service and kind of
delivering that that wow factorfor your guests to ensure they
come back?
Steve Odell (20:20):
it's interesting you use those words the heart of
what we do, because we just uh,we just produced a video series
about individuals working onboard and their longevity with
the company and their commitmentto the business and their
service ethics.
So it kind of speaks to that.
We have a lot of long-termreturning crew.
You know, even with theinterruption of COVID for those
(20:45):
two or three years, our crewlargely came back and you know,
for the guests it's almost likea feeling of coming home.
They know crew members, they'reconnected to them, they keep in
touch with them when they'renot on the ships and I think
that that whole service cultureis critical to the brand the
warmth of friendliness but theinobtrusiveness of it as well.
(21:08):
People might be more private,we respect privacy, but they
also like the camaraderie.
So we've put a lot of focus ontraining and standards.
And to come to region to workon board, you pass a stringent
process to learn what the regionservice is all about.
Dan Christian (21:30):
So service is king for sure, and I guess
that's where I wanted to go next, in terms of the, the guest and
the actual experience and whatyou've seen post-pandemic, with
consumer behavior changingclearly.
That was a a theme and theorigin of the show, and part of
the reason I wanted to do thecruise series is because when we
looked at the 2019 numbers forCLIA compared to 2023, and you
(21:52):
look at the trajectory andpeople, it's remarkable, right.
So forget 2019, it's newrecords in 23 and 24, 25,.
You know the industry has abright future in the next five
years plus.
So, but with that, obviously,you have new customers coming
into the market.
You have other customers comingback.
What would you say has remainedthe same in terms of consumer
(22:12):
behavior and what have you seenthat has changed?
That has also caused you toadjust some aspects of your
itineraries to suit the kind ofthe customers you're now seeing
post pandemic.
Steve Odell (22:24):
It's a very good question.
It's a very good question.
(22:45):
I mean, you know, if I go backto 2020, the beginning of 2020,
when we entered into that COVIDperiod, the cruise industry was
written off by a lot of people,you know, a lot of commentators,
a lot of investors.
You know, would the cruiseindustry ever come back in the
same way?
And, as you rightly say, itcame back stronger and better?
I mean, last year, 32 millionpeople took a cruise.
That was bigger than 19.
And the projection for 2027 is40 million.
You know, we're building moreships.
There are 24 more ships, 25more ships going to be built
between now and 2028.
(23:07):
So the belief in cruising andthe belief in how the
demographic fits, the potential,is unquestionable.
What's different?
I think we're attracting morepeople who see the value and see
the safety and security thatcruising delivers.
(23:28):
And you know we're seeing a lotof people come from outside of
travel or migrating up withincruise brands.
So someone who might have done,you know, a sort of premium
cruise has traded up to luxurybecause they see the value of
the inclusions, because in themeantime, you've noticed, hotels
(23:48):
, airlines, everything's becomemuch more expensive post-COVID.
So we are seeing a new kind ofpassenger coming from within the
cruise sector and from outside.
From outside they're comingfrom all sorts of different
kinds of experiences land staycustomers, villa customers,
(24:09):
yachts, safaris.
They're coming from a widerange of other categories of
travel, because I think peopleare seeing that you know, this
is a really great way to see alot of places with ease of
travel and I go back to it value, because we include everything.
When you go by land, you payfor a hotel normally, but then
(24:31):
you end up paying for most ofthe things you enjoy.
So I think we've had arenaissance post-COVID, which is
fantastic and the confidence inthe sector is huge.
Dan Christian (24:42):
Well, and you've kind of alluded to something
which is the challenges thatcome with that growth.
So you've highlighted the stateof the industry is growth and a
real positive trajectory.
I'd also like to just touch onsome of the challenges that I
think you would be bestpositioned to identify that
exist within the cruise industrytoday.
(25:02):
I'll mention two.
One, in general terms, acrossthe industry, is this concept of
over-tourism and destinationsstarting to push back,
especially where some cruiselines would travel to in the
past, like Venice, probably themost um uh familiar example for
people.
Um, so that's one aspect, andthe other one, of course, is
sustainability, um, which I knowis is um one aspect that the
(25:23):
industry has been criticized inthe past.
I know the industry is making alot of progress on that front.
Steve Odell (25:33):
Um, so yeah, so yeah.
Tell us about some of thechallenges and how you're
overcoming them.
Well, I mean, there are a lotof.
You know there are headwinds.
They're always going to beheadwinds all the time.
If they're not geopoliticalones, they're things like over
tourism, and we've seen a littlebit of that in the current year
, particularly bit of that inthe current year particularly.
(25:57):
We have a sustainability programwhich we follow for the whole
company.
It's called Sail and Sustain.
If your listeners want to lookat it, it's in our investor
website.
We're doing a whole range ofthings that are based around
what we do about waste treatment, water treatment, emissions.
There are a stack of thingsthat we work on ongoing.
When we build new ships, ofcourse, we're able to
(26:20):
incorporate a lot of the latesttechnology Things like shore
power, for example, where youdon't run your engines in port.
Things like shore power, forexample, where you don't run
your engines in port.
You take a plug, if you like,to the port and you use local
shore power.
So there's a lot of initiatives.
I mean it's a huge subject and,frankly, you know it's going to
(26:45):
take time over the years to getreally adjusted, but I think
we're doing a lot of verypositive things environmentally.
But I think we're doing a lotof very positive things
environmentally.
You know, over tourism is alwaysa double edged sword because we
bring a lot to the economies ofthe countries we visit.
You know I can particularlytalk about Australia in this
respect because I was involvedin it.
I was the chair of theassociation there for four years
(27:10):
and you know this was always abig subject that we discussed
with the local economies there.
Because, you know, a cruiseship visit brings dollars, lots
of dollars, and supports localcommunities.
It supports hotels, it supportsshore excursion operators, it
supports restaurants.
You know Australia alonebelieves that the cruise
industry brings $5 billion ofeconomic value to their part of
(27:33):
the world.
So you know, I think there's a,you know there is a sort of, if
you like, a fine line betweenwhat is the economic benefit and
what are the issues.
You know the negative issuesthat communities see around
cruise ships coming, I believe,over.
On balance they bring greatvalue to communities because
(27:55):
they bring economic impact.
But we perfectly understandthat not all small communities
want the kind of tourism.
So we have to work with thelocal communities as an
organization, we have to workwith the local communities to
find the best compromise.
One of the things we've beendoing is investing in ports and
(28:18):
local communities.
We've been able to do thatparticularly in Alaska, where
we've actually been developingport infrastructure and bringing
the economic benefit to thelocal communities by working
with the local authorities.
It's a huge subject, to behonest with you, dan, but I
(28:40):
think you can see if yourlisteners dig a bit deeper on
our company, we're really givinga lot back and trying to, you
know, find the right balance.
Dan Christian (28:50):
Yeah, and that's part of the reason I wanted to
ask you that question, becausethere's so much positive that
comes with travel but obviouslyjust acknowledging the
challenges and how best tonavigate those.
And I think that's where Iwanted to go next in terms of
some of the trends that we'reseeing, because clearly one of
the things that stood out to meand again part of the reason I
wanted to have this conversationwith you is that you know we
are both just together atvirtuoso in las vegas.
(29:10):
Clearly, you've been going foryears, I, you know this was my
second time going and I gained alot last year and this year in
terms of the, the trends thatthey were sharing and clearly
one of the it almost seems likethere's an insatiable demand for
expedition cruisingpost-pandandemic so the ultra
luxury market is continuing toboom and this particular style
(29:33):
of cruising is massivelyover-indexing compared to other
categories.
So I guess that's where Iwanted to get a sense from you,
like the trends that you'reseeing, and where that growth is
coming from.
Steve Odell (29:46):
Well, I think you know, in terms of destination
cruising is often the best andmost comfortable way to travel
to some of these destinations.
And I use the example whichVirtuoso used in their opening
presentation in their conference.
(30:06):
They talked about the colderdestinations, they talked about
Greenland and Iceland and ofcourse, you know, accessibility
means that cruise ships mediumsize and smaller size are the
best way to go to visit thesedestinations.
And you know, it was verysatisfying to hear that broad
(30:27):
trend because it's somethingwe're doing ourselves.
You know we're focused towardssome cruises around Reykjavik.
We combine some of them withthe British Isles so we go to
some of the more remote islandsof the British Isles and then we
do around Iceland cruises.
You know, some of it's sceniccruising, some of it's not even
landing but some of it's justlooking at the beautiful scenery
(30:47):
of it's scenic cruising.
Some of it's not even landingbut some of it's just looking at
the beautiful scenery.
And then, of course, greenlandis another area which is opening
up for tourism by cruise ships.
I think there are two differentcategories of ships here the
expedition ships, the smallerones, the specialist companies
where they have zodiac boats onboard.
(31:08):
The specialist companies wherethey have zodiac boats on board,
you know, have the ability toactually do landings in these
destinations.
For the some of the biggerships it's more coastal
sightseeing, if you like, samewith Antarctica.
I mean, we do, we do coastalcruising in Antarctica, we go
down as far as Antarctica.
The difference with theexpedition cruises is they
actually have they carry, youknow, a.
(31:28):
The expedition cruises is theyactually have they carry, you
know, a dozen Zodiac boats andthey actually land people on the
ice.
I did that myself last Januaryand it was just an awesome
experience Just being there inthe beauty and the silence of
Antarctica.
And you can do that the bigship comfortable way or you can
do it the expedition way, whereyou really you know where you're
(31:49):
on land and you're up front andclose and personal.
Dan Christian (31:53):
Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned cool-cations.
That was a new term for me.
Steve Odell (31:58):
Cool-cations, cool-cations.
Dan Christian (32:01):
Given climate change and global warming,
people are looking at travelingin shoulder seasons.
They're more likely to go toScandinavia in the peak summer
months.
Yeah, exactly traveling inshoulder seasons, they're more
likely to go to Scandinavia inthe peak summer months.
Along those lines, one of thethings I wanted to ask you about
technology and the innovationsthat you are delivering on for
Regent's Ever Seas customers howare you viewing the
(32:24):
introduction of new technologiesto create a more seamless guest
experience?
I know Virgin Voyages, forexample.
They try and handle everythingwith an app on board so they're
not making constantannouncements and people know
when they're just embarking, andso clever ways to kind of
address some of the pain pointsassociated with cruising, and
one of the I continuously hearfrom people you speak to whether
(32:47):
they love cruising or they'vetried it and and um was the fact
they have to wait to get offthe ship and that whole process.
Steve Odell (32:53):
Um, so I guess I'm keen to know how you embrace
technology at regent seven seas,where you're seeing some of the
benefits and maybe some of thethings you have coming up in
2025 well, you know it's a veryinteresting conversation about
service actually, because you,as someone said to me recently,
I'd rather order my martini froma barman at a bar than on an
(33:16):
iPad with a QR code, and I thinkthere's a lot to be said for
that, you know.
I mean the big ship companieshave to process a lot of people,
and quickly.
They have to provide a certainstandard of service and I think
technology has particularlystepped up in respect for those
kind of cruise companies.
For us, you know, we'reboutique luxury hotels.
(33:37):
People don't want to order adrink off of an iPad, they want
to talk to the barman and enjoythe service and the smile and
the conversation.
So I think for us, you know, wehave to be a modern,
contemporary company and we haveto use technology to make the
whole operation efficient thing.
(33:57):
In luxury, you know, it's morepersonal and I think that you
know there's a fine line againwith the luxury customer on how
you, you know you have to bestaffed well, you have to have
the right staff, you have todeliver on time.
We can use technology, for, youknow, more efficiency, for
example, in boarding process,you know, getting on and off the
(34:21):
ship, in how we organizeourselves in terms of bookings
and restaurant bookings and soon, but I think, when it comes
down to the day-to-day serviceaspect on board, we are a
human-driven company rather thanan app-driven company?
Dan Christian (34:41):
Yeah for sure, and that's staying close to the
customer, knowing their needs,and so on.
That exact topic, um, thegrowth plans for region seven
seas.
Um, in the next few yearsobviously got the six ships.
You mentioned.
About the number of new shipsthat are being added across the
industry, I'm keen to know whatI guess your plans are for
introducing new ships, newdestinations.
(35:02):
And the other thing I'd like toget your take on, too steve, is
that how you're driving growth.
Is it marketing campaigns?
Is it?
Is it trade?
I mean, it's obviously onething to introduce the ships,
introduce the new itineraries,which is great for repeat guests
, that people want to come backand travel with you, but clearly
you need to fill many of thoseitineraries by introducing new
people.
So I'd love to know how you'redriving growth as well for
(35:24):
Regency Well we, we recentlyannounced, uh, two additional uh
ships for our fleet.
Steve Odell (35:31):
They'll be delivered in 26 and 29 um.
This is, um uh, the prestigeclass of ship.
Um, so we are going to grow thebusiness um uh considerably in
the next um five years.
Uh, the first of the ships isgoing to be 77,000 tons, so the
(35:52):
current Explorer class of 55,000tons.
So it's a bigger ship but only50 more suites, 100 more people.
So I think, following a trendthere, we're looking to expand
with giving people more spaceand better service, and we
anticipate that that's going tobe one of the demands of the
(36:13):
luxury customer coming up.
So there is expansion.
We're going to releaseinformation on the Prestige
class over the coming months,but there's going to be a lot of
nice new innovation for ourbrand, you know, anticipating
what the customer of the futurewill want.
So that's a very exciting thingthat's happening.
(36:33):
Itineraries we're really, youknow, one of the things that I
mentioned already is we try toget early booking.
So we've already launched up tothe middle of 2027.
So it's possible to bookitineraries up to the middle of
2027.
And we're looking at, you know,we have core tried and trusted
destinations but we're tryingsome new things.
(36:55):
So one of the things we have inour new program are what we
call immersive itineraries, andthese are itineraries where you
go on a 10-day cruise butinstead of going to a port a day
for 10 days, you go to fourports and you stay two days.
So in other words I'll give youan example you go from Venice
(37:16):
to Athens, so you get two nightsin Venice, two nights in
Dubrovnik, two nights inMontenegro, two nights in Athens
.
That gives you the opportunityto spend two days of
investigating and actuallytouring and actually getting an
overnight stop as well, so whereyou might go out to dinner
locally or you might go on acity tour at night to see the
(37:38):
light.
So we're trying to differentiateourselves by offering different
kinds of cruises.
So we've got 15 of thosecruises on sale between now and
2027.
There's really great demand forthem from regulars and from
first-timers and this is wherewe're trying to target the new
customer coming from Landstay.
(37:59):
So you know, the coreMediterranean and Caribbean, as
I said, is core market.
Where we are also seeing a lotof growth and we've added more
itineraries is Japan, becauseculturally and getting around
and you know, generallytraveling there as a foreigner
(38:21):
is a little more complex thansome other places in the world,
but a cruise is a really aluxury cruise is a really great
way to go there because youunpack once, we take you
basically from Tokyo all aroundthe coast, you cross over into
Korea or into China to Shanghaiand you're seeing a lot of this
(38:42):
country from east to west and inreal comfort.
These are among ourbest-selling cruises.
Dan Christian (38:49):
We'll be right back.
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(40:39):
And now back to the show.
Clearly, given the demographicsand the high level of service
and the focus of our previousseries was all in the
renaissance of the traveladvisor and clearly you um we've
just talked about virtuosodoing, you know, 34 billion
dollars a year in global sales.
It's so, there's incredible.
And Matthew Upturge, I thought,actually did a great job during
the press session.
(41:00):
Someone actually asked him thequestion about B2B versus B2C,
which is sort of a, and he veryeloquently answered that by
saying the smartest businessesdo both successfully.
Even the best B2C companies arehere at Virtuoso showcasing
their product to b2b partners.
So, um, I realize the answerfor a company of your size and
scale has to be both, but I justI guess I'd like to you to
(41:22):
speak to that a bit more to helpus understand.
You know how much is comingthrough the trade, how much
comes from direct.
You know, you have the exactpercentages, but how you're, how
you're looking at growing bothof those um areas.
Steve Odell (41:32):
Well, I mean, it's fair to say that the trade will
always be our most importantchannel of distribution, and
there are many reasons for that,but not least that travel
partners have powerful machinesthat drive demand.
They also have frontlineadvisors and owners of agencies
(41:56):
that are well connected in theirown communities and have very
established businesses and sella lot of products.
They don't just sell cruiseproducts, so it will always be
the main focus of our activity.
You know, we have a huge salesforce to support it.
We have trade marketingspecialists that support it, and
I would say we enjoy a reallygreat relationship across the
(42:18):
board.
But what we can't ignore isthat we have to feed it as well,
because we have to end up beingthe cruise line of choice, and
so we do a lot of work in ourmarketing to drive demand, to
drive leads, and we have peoplethat work the leads.
(42:39):
The business that results fromthat is transferable to a travel
agency if the client wishes todo so.
So you're right, we play inboth channels, but without doubt
the travel agent channel is themost important.
That's why we invest so much init.
But you know the when we get alead and we convert them to
(43:02):
Regent and they're not offeredanything else as an alternative.
That's a win-win for us.
You know, the the two you havein the trade channel is that
there are choices and there aretravel agents that are super
loyal to us.
There are others that movetheir clients around.
The objective for us is to getthe client for region and you
(43:22):
know, however, we get to do that.
You know we sell a lot on boardon behalf of travel agents.
We encourage travel agents toget their clients to book when
they're on board.
We have a cruise sales office.
Those bookings go immediatelyback to travel agents agents.
So we do a lot of business inthat sphere as well.
But today, in today's world,you know we've got to play in
(43:43):
all channels.
It's a reality and I think uh,you know, matthew said it travel
agents realize that and and thework we do, um with b2c um,
largely results back you in areturn to the travel agency
anyway.
So their job is done for them.
Dan Christian (43:59):
Yeah, my aunt, interestingly on that topic, my
aunt is a uh, she works forExpedia cruise ship centers and
she loves cruise, she sellscruise, she's a retired teacher
and uh, so she'll put everyoneand anyone on a cruise that she
can.
She can because not only doesshe love it, but she wants other
people to have that experienceas well.
And it's remarkable the numberof younger people um so cousins,
and that all work with her andwork with a travel advisor to
(44:22):
handle their bookings.
They want that personalrecommendation and service and
they trust rather than trying todo the research themselves on
multiple sites and trying tofigure out the right cabin.
So, yeah, you highlighted manybenefits, so it's um now in in
terms of um, uh, there's twoother things I wanted to touch
on with you in our chat today.
I mean, there's there's so much,but I the the couple of things
I wanted to to finish off on iswhen you look at the industry
(44:47):
going forward.
I would love to get your takeon how you think the industry
will evolve the next few years.
But just given that you see theindustry so clearly from your
vantage point, both in Miami andbeing part of such a leading
organization, are there anythings that we haven't touched
on as far as where you see theindustry going or region seven
C's within that, where you knowyou are clearly, you know,
(45:10):
positioning yourself for along-term leadership advantage
in this category.
Steve Odell (45:13):
Well, I think you know, the big thing for me is we
have to think globally.
You know, we know where thecore business is and we should
always be focused on that.
But we also need to look atwhere the growth is going to be
in the future, and we're veryfocused on that.
I mean, asia is an obviousplace to talk about.
You know it's a very it's thelargest concentration of wealth
(45:34):
in the world and still prettymuch you know it's a very it's a
largest concentration of wealthin the world, um, and still
pretty much, you know, unexposedto, to um luxury cruises, um,
but we're seeing more, uh,luxury cruises going into that
area and people are getting moreawareness.
So I think, um, you know asiais an except you know, as a one,
I pull out, but a globalapproach to our distribution is
(45:57):
is super important.
We're very focused on that.
But you know, in in NorthAmerica, um, don't forget, you
know like one, 2% of thepopulation, um are, uh have
cruised.
Look at the potential there isto grow in this market alone.
I mean, we've got to get peopleover the line and trying
(46:20):
cruises for the first time,because we find in all of our
business, in all of our brandsthat as soon as you convert a
customer, they'll stay.
So you know you fish where youknow you're going to catch, but
you have to have a vision forwhere it's going as well.
And you know the generationalshift is another big issue to
(46:43):
consider.
You know the millennials andthe Gen X.
Where are they?
You know what are they going towant, where are they going to
be?
What kind of experience do theywant?
It was very interesting.
I read an article recently andthis goes back to travel agents
where millennials are morelikely to trust a travel agent
than the boomers, and then theboomers are really aligned to
(47:06):
travel agencies.
So I think there's a hugeopportunity for travel agents to
capture the next generation,and it's all about selling their
service and what they can doand their knowledge.
The best travel agencies areinvesting in knowledge.
They're traveling themselves,they can talk about the products
, they can package thingstogether, they can recommend,
they're trusted, and I thinkthat's where we have to
(47:29):
concentrate.
We have to find the rightpeople who support us and really
dig deeper with them.
Dan Christian (47:36):
Yeah, now, given you've got such experience you
mentioned 30 plus years in thisspace and many of our listeners
are either interested in workingin the travel category, clearly
cruise, given the conversationwe're having people coming back
to our industry, given thechallenges that we all faced and
the fact that most companiesare also still now struggling to
recruit and hire.
(47:56):
So we have new people cominginto our industry.
We have people coming back.
And the one last question I'dlike to ask you before I give
you the final word is that isthere any advice that you would
give to someone listening tothis that's starting out their
career in the cruise industry?
Steve Odell (48:11):
Well, it's a fantastic business and you know
it might not be the best paidbusiness, if you like.
When people are starting out,they might see, you know, more
attractive areas to work in inthe world or in industry, have
(48:38):
such a great experience of goingto work and you know you, you
you're selling dreams and peoplelike like that it's.
It's a really um greatmotivational part of of the um,
of the work life, um to toconsider, um you know, I've done
it for a long time, um, I'vemanaged to see a bit of the
world in the process, um, alwaysmeeting nice people,
understanding different cultures.
It's a business that's aliveand it's just a great place to
(49:04):
work.
And I think you've got toaccept sometimes that you start
from grassroots I did and youfind your way through and you
grow and you use your experienceto go to the next level.
So, yeah, I would recommend thecruise business, also, more
broadly, the travel business, toanyone starting out.
But be patient because itdoesn't happen overnight.
(49:27):
You know it takes time to buildknowledge and reputation, but
it's worth investing in becauseyou know I had a very satisfying
career personally and I knowI've got a lot of colleagues who
feel exactly the same way.
Dan Christian (49:40):
That's amazing, steve.
I'm so glad I asked you thatquestion.
There were so many valuablepoints you just shared, so I
couldn't agree more oncommitting to a life and travel.
I want to give you the lastword here.
So if people want to find outmore about Region 7Cs either
travel advisors listening tothis or customers that are like
just discovered theseitineraries, um, or yourself for
(50:00):
that matter, but uh yeah, wherecan people go for more
information?
Steve Odell (50:03):
okay.
Well, I would say the the bestplace to start is at our website
, rssccom.
Um, there you'll find prettymuch everything I've been
talking about today, fromitineraries and chips, but
there's also a travel agentcenter, which has an absolute
goldmine of information andtools our program talking about
(50:34):
demographics, how to find thecustomer, how to talk to the
customer, how to communicatethere's a lot of really very
valuable information.
And on top of that, of course,back to people, we have our
(50:54):
dedicated sales force all aroundthe country, a strong team of
people, and actually in theglobal offices of our company in
the UK, in Sydney, in Australia, in Singapore, tokyo, all
around the world, we have a teamof dedicated professionals that
help support travel agents, ontop of all these other things
that you can read and use in ourwebsite.
So, rsfccom.
Dan Christian (51:15):
Awesome, that's great, steve.
Thank you so much for makingthe time for this.
It's been such a pleasure tospeak to you and I look forward
to staying in touch and seeingyou at some more conferences
over the course of the year.
Steve Odell (51:23):
Thanks Dan, very much Good to see you.
Thank you.
Dan Christian (51:25):
Great to have you with us.
Thanks so much for joining ourlatest episode of Travel Trends.
I hope you're enjoying our deepdive into cruises and the
conversation we had today withSteve O'Dell from Region 7 Seas.
Stay tuned, because we've gotscenic cruises coming up next,
followed by Princess and then HXHerdegurt and Expeditions will
be joining us as we round outour very first deep dive into
(51:46):
ocean cruises and, as you heardfrom the beginning, we're
definitely going to continue onthis series in season five.
We've had a great deal ofinterest, especially around the
idea of us doing river cruises.
We are just in the process ofstarting to shoot season five,
so if you have suggestions fortopics, guests or want to get
involved as a partner or sponsor, be sure to reach out to us.
You can feel free to email me,dan, at traveltrendspodcastcom,
(52:10):
or check out our website andfill out our partner form right
there on the website.
Don't forget we also send out amonthly newsletter with a
roundup of all of our episodesand plans for the upcoming month
.
So make sure to register atTravelTrendsPodcastcom and don't
forget to connect with us onthe social channels Instagram,
LinkedIn and YouTube.
Until next time, safe travels.
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