“What we have found is that there are two distinct markets now in Australia for shore excursions,” said Tyler Wood, director, Bob Wood Cruise Group.         

“International and domestic and both are performing strongly, but each market requires a different product. An example would be a city tour that sells very well in the international market where it wouldn’t in the domestic. They are looking for more soft adventure touring and local experiences.”

That soft adventure offering (also referred to as “why not”) includes tours such as an intro surfing lesson.

“It’s where they try something they always have wanted to but have never got around to,” Wood added.

His company spends a lot of time with new ports assisting them with their own product development.

“In the existing regions we need to make sure that we refresh the product all the time with new offerings,” Wood continued. “There are a lot of repeat cruisers and there is nothing worse than seeing the same shore excursion program as the previous cruise. We annually review shore excursions in each port with the aim of refreshing and implementing new tours.”