Sea Cloud Cruises has a simple approach to sustainability, said Kevin Smith, the company’s VP of Sales.
“It’s kind of our storytelling in our brochure books,” he said, noting that the company operates a fleet of tall ships.
In addition to sailing wind-powered ships, Sea Cloud has a straightforward formula for keeping its operations sustainable, Smith said.
“It’s all about being a good visitor. We want to source locally, we want to help the communities in which we are traveling, and we want to keep it very small,” he explained.
“If you think of Chatham Bay, a tiny island in the Union Islands down in the Caribbean, we go there. It was completely destroyed last year in a hurricane, and there’s nothing left,” Smith said.
“But it is one of the prettiest places in the world. We go in there, we take over the beach, and we’re helping to rebuild that community and that business,” he added.
“We are a tall sailing ship company, so we are truly powered by the wind,” he continued, adding that when the engines are turned off, no fuel is burned.
“It’s all in its natural state, and it’s something that our guests truly want—more time under sail and having that experience of being at sea,” Smith added.
“There’s a romance about being on the water and underneath the sail. So, it truly is the opportunity to turn the engines off, allowing us to touch on sustainability.”
He noted that these experiences are add-ons to the cruise product, which bring “surprise and delight” to guests.
“It’s that kind of engagement with the clients. They can’t wait to do this somewhere else in the world,” Smith added.
Sea Cloud’s strategy includes creating these types of moments as opposed to “saying that we sail with a certain fuel for zero emissions,” he continued.
“I don’t think our clients are looking for that reason alone,” Smith said.
“Consumers say they want sustainability, but yet they’re not quite there yet to pay the premium,” he noted.
“It’s all about education and making sure that travelers are aware. They might not necessarily know about all of the marine and technical and the wildly expensive back-of-the-house equipment that sustainability mandates today,” Smith said.
“But later on, and through that storytelling with the right partnerships … it will gain the right levels of momentum. We are in the early stages.”
