Cruise operators go easy on caviar marketing
LONDON – Luxury cruise operators have had to be careful not to over-push the luxurious nature of their product in the recession due to a reaction to “conspicuous consumptionâ€. 


TTG Live reported that Andrew McGowan, UK director of Carnival-owned operator Seabourn Yacht Club, told a cruise forum at WTM that although the quality of the product had been maintained the message had been changed. 


“The interesting thing for Seabourn is that we have had to be careful with our positioning,†he said. 


“Last September [2008] we felt there was a bit of a push back on ‘conspicuous consumption’, maybe more so in the US than here. 


“We reined back on the ‘caviar in the surf’ stuff and went out saying this was incredible value for money and we were aggressive on price as well.â€â€¨â€¨
The panel agreed value for money has been the main message for cruise lines in a year in which pricing has not been as high as they would have liked. 


Stephen Park, NCL UK general manager, said, “Of course we want to get better prices but consumers have never had it so good. 


“There are fantastic deals out there and we are growing our business. At some stage the recession will finish and our prices will pick up.â€â€¨
Ian Jarrett
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