The expedition cruising market is not anywhere near reaching saturation, Swan Hellenic’s CEO Andrea Zito said.
“We are just scratching the surface,” he said, citing data from Antarctica to illustrate the current scale of the market.
“As an industry, we currently have approximately 40 ships sailing in that region, with a fleet that has an average age of 32 years,” he continued.
“Eventually, we will have a lot of ships that will retire for various reasons,” Zito added, noting that the ships being built today are significantly more efficient.
“Compared with a vessel built 15 years ago, a new ship has a consumption difference of 20 to 30 percent because of hydrodynamics, modern materials and other factors,” he explained.
He also highlighted important upgrades in sustainability and comfort, as well as safety for guests and crew.
“We are going into very remote areas, and we have a duty to protect not only the places but our passengers with the highest standard of safety,” Zito noted.
“We also have the duty to visit this part of the world that is pristine and fragile and leave nothing else than our footprint on the sand or on ice or snow and nothing else,” he said.
He called expedition cruising “a niche in a niche,” which accounts for a small fraction of the world’s cruise industry.
“We have 40 million people cruising per year… and many millions or billions using the hospitality industry.”
The first purposely built expedition ships, however, debuted just ten years ago, Zito added, noting that guest demographics are changing across the market.
“In China, for instance, we have the youngest population that is traveling with us,” he said, pointing out an average age of 44 years old for Chinese guests.
Multi-generational traveling is a trend in markets like the U.S. and Australia, while a growing number of remote-working professionals are said to be embarking.
Guests tend to create a sense of community onboard, fostering friendships and connections, Zito noted.
“On our vessels, the passengers are bonding much more because you are on the same zodiac,” he said.
“Even with people that you don’t know, I mean, you create this social bonding that does not depend on the telephone.”
