Halfway through the year, travel agents cite optimism about selling cruises in 2012, according to a new survey of members of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). Over 50 percent of respondents report they are already selling more vacations at sea than in 2011 and 64 percent expect cruise booking volume over the course of 2012 to increase over last year.
The online survey of over 300 CLIA-member agents, conducted in early July, measured several major aspects of the cruise industry from the agent perspective, including consumer confidence and attitudes toward cruising, popular cruise destinations, passenger demographics, and booking patterns. “As the primary distribution channel for cruises, our member agents have an extremely important perspective and represent a valuable barometer of the attitudes and opinions that shape and drive the industry’s success,” said Christine Duffy, CLIA’s president and CEO. “In this survey, agents express strong optimism for cruise sales going forward and reaffirm that the industry’s core reason for success is its continuing ability to provide outstanding choice and value for cruise vacations all over the world. In terms of consumer interest, according to our agent partners, cruising, once again, ranks number one compared to other types of vacations.” Key findings of the CLIA mid-2012 agent survey include: * While almost 24 percent of agents expect an increase of 10% or less in 2012 bookings, 25.4 percent anticipate increases of 11-15 percent and 14.8 percent look forward to even more significant growth in cruise sales of more than 25 percent