April, 2014 – This article from Seatrade Insider discusses results of the American Affluence Research Center’s Spring 2014 report showing that less than half of the wealthiest Americans have cruised in the past 10 years. (http://www.seatrade-insider.com/news/news-headlines/new-study-finds-huge-untapped-potential-for-affluent-cruisers.html)
In a new survey by the American Affluence Research Center of the wealthiest 10% of US households, fewer than half of the affluent said they had cruised during the past 10 years, which suggests great sales potential for travel agents and cruise lines, according to AARC president Ron Kurtz.
The survey identified the number of cruises (three nights or longer) taken in the past 10 years by type (ocean cruises and river cruises) by the wealthiest 11.4m US households represented in the research.
With 54% of these affluent households reporting no cruises taken during the past 10 years, this means more than 6m households with a minimum net worth of $800,000 and an average income of over $260,000 are potential prospects to purchase what would probably be their first cruise, Kurtz said.
‘Cruises of all types could be winners as this new survey validated previous estimates in our surveys of about 3.5 million annual affluent cruisers across contemporary, premium and luxury categories,’ he told Seatrade Insider.
In addition to providing data on the percentage of the affluent that have cruised, the new AARC survey revealed that the affluent cruisers average one cruise every three years and that 7% of them, or more than 350,000, average more than one cruise every year.
Only 8% of the affluent have taken a river cruise, a product that offers new sales potential with the growth in capacity that has been introduced recently and the further growth that is planned, Kurtz observed.
The survey also honed in on which of the 19 listed brands the affluent have cruised with during the past five years, are familiar with but have not cruised with, view as overrated, believe attract status-seekers, quality-oriented cruisers, experienced travelers, value-oriented cruisers, cruisers ‘younger than me’ and/or ‘travelers like me.’
The 19 listed lines were Azamara Club Cruises, AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways, Carnival, Celebrity, Crystal, Cunard, Disney, Holland America, Norwegian, Oceania, Princess, Regent Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, Silversea, Viking River, Uniworld and Windstar.
AARC’s Spring 2014 Affluent Market Tracking Study #25, the latest in a series of twice-yearly surveys, is based on a national sample of 330 men and women who have an average annual household income of $268,000, an average primary residence value of $1.1m, an average net worth of $3.1m and average investable assets of $1.5m.
Kurtz said detailed highlights of the survey and a description of the methodology are posted here.
A former senior cruise line executive, Kurtz is the innovator of the yacht cruise concept with the Sea Goddess ships (now sailing for SeaDream Yacht Club) in the early 1980s. He also served as chief marketing officer for Norwegian Cruise Line and Windstar Cruises.