Leah Talactac, president and CFO of Viking, said that demand across the company’s portfolio is resilient.
“From a repeat guest percentage, we are seeing quite a few of our guests repeat. For the 2024 season, 53 percent of our guests had traveled with us before,” she said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “There are quite a few of them with more than one or two active bookings.”
“We have seen that there are guests who may have three or four additional bookings in addition to the booking that they are currently on,” she added.
When it comes to guests currently on ocean ships, the company sees a very good number booking their next journey with Viking while they are on their current sailing, Talactac said.
“We’ve always said from the beginning that our consumers are different. They’re more resilient, they have time, they want to travel and they have the funds to do so… it is also a testament to how well the product presents itself. It’s not just about marketing.”
Talactac added that the company wants to ensure its repeat guest percentage remains high while it attracts new guests to the brand.
She explained that travelers hear about the Viking way of travel and are drawn to experiential cruising, with destination being the focus, not the ships. Once they are in the ecosystem, they continue to repeat.
Torstein Hagen, CEO of Viking, noted that the onboard atmosphere is quiet and serene, making it easy to convert older guests who have had enjoyable times on ocean ships to their products.
Regarding meeting the demand in the regional mix Viking offers today, Hagen added that the company is selling far ahead and has sold out many of the itineraries.
“I think it’s really more of the same and to more customers, which is a fairly simple message to get across,” he said.
“That’s really what it is on the oceans, on the rivers; we have been able to expand the geographic span a bit. I feel we own the Nile. We are now in India, and so forth. It’s really just more of the same; we have the demand there as we can see it,” Hagen said.
