Regent's Montague and NCL's Sommer agree with the boss.
At Travel Weekly's CRUISEWORLD event last week in Miami, Norwegian Cruise Line President Harry Sommer agreed with his boss Frank Del Rio that their no discounting policy is helping fuel sales through their travel advisors. The cruise line's no-discounting policy is a factor, Sommer said.
"The results we see are fantastic, so I'm not surprised that some of our competition that sells cruises for $299 is having a hard time engaging the trade community," Sommer said.
Del Rio in a previous chat session at the event said that most of the company's business comes from the agency community, "and we're doing better than we've ever done before."
"We see demand for the second half of 2022 and beyond at record levels and at record prices, which should be music to your ears because your commissions are based on those record prices," Del Rio said. He continued "We're not chasing load factors through low prices," Del Rio said. "I see the low prices that some cruises are selling at, and it is shocking to me. "We will spend whatever we have to spend to fill the vessel without discounting," Del Rio continued. "Discounting is not fair to our shareholders, and it's not fair for our travel agents to get a $6 check. If you sell one of our cruises, you're going to make lots of money, partly because of our bundling strategy. Many of the elements that your guests typically spend on a cruise ship are commissionable to you."
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