Reigniting the spirit of innovation in cruise

In its 60-year history as a pioneer of travel retailing, no challenge has been as daunting for LVMH company Starboard Cruise Services as COVID-19. The maritime leisure market has ground to a halt worldwide, with all of its shops closed, and the industry seeking ways to rebuild trust with consumers once recovery begins.

Lisa Bauer, President and CEO of the Miami-based global cruise concessionaire, says that once the industry stopped, ensuring staff could return home or were at least safe onboard was the big focus.

“Across the eight cruise brands we work with, we were able to get 500 of our shipboard team members safely home. However, we still have 1,000 team members onboard who we have not been able to get home because of the logistics, from ports being closed to airports not offering service.

“The impact will be on those people who are new to cruise and who would not consider it in the near future”

– Lisa Bauer

“But our cruise partners have just been incredible, treating our teams like their own. We have focused on maintaining communications with our team, with daily calls with the leadership onboard, staying close to what is happening. Our priority is and has always been the safety and wellbeing of all our employees across the globe. The resilience of our people continues to amaze me. It has brought people together and everyone is really looking out for each other.”

For shoreside operations, working remotely put pressure on the IT teams at almost zero notice, but this happened quickly and efficiently, says Bauer. “We continue to have staff meetings, management meetings, and our biggest focus has been on communications, transparency and answering people’s questions.” She also salutes the importance of being part of a wider group – LVMH – to share best practice and aligning corporately with the company’s other Maisons.

With Starboard’s Shanghai and Hong Kong-based teams now back in their offices (teams in Florida have been working from home since the week of 16 March), the company is backing China and the wider Asian market to bounce back, although there are no firm plans for a resumption of sailing just yet.

Beyond that, and though the timing remains uncertain, Starboard is planning for new ship launches, from the latest Costa Cruises purpose-built Asia ship Costa Firenze to Crystal Endeavour, Celebrity Beyond or Global Dream.

Bauer says: “Our intent now is to focus on the consumer-centric strategies so we can come out of this smarter and understand our consumer better. We’re using the time to focus on consumer sentiment and what the cruiselines are asking of us.

“I’ve been in the industry a long time and have gone through 9/11, SARS, the economic crisis of 2008/09, and it’s such a resilient industry, one that has always focused on customer safety first. But I do think this one is different. Previously reducing fares was a key motivator to get people onboard. Today, our research shows that it will be important that the government or CDC or WHO says cruising is safe, and that the possibility of a vaccine is available, and that people understand the steps that are being taken to assure their safety.

“But the biggest impact I believe will be on the folks that have never cruised before. When you think about the North American base of 144 million consumers that had cruise in a consideration set, we believe we’re seeing about a -30% reduction in that. So the impact will be on those people who are new to cruise and who would not consider it in the near future.”

That suggests a more experienced, loyal cruise travellers will lead the industry rebound. Bauer adds: “We have also been focused on spurring innovation and testing new ways of thinking. Our cruise partners have been very good about reinventing retail. This is a platform to try new things, to test and maybe to scale. So that spirit of innovation is there and there is more of an appetite than ever for that as we look to restart the industry.

“It will be more important than ever to focus on experience. There will be pent-up demand for people to reconnect, go to new destinations and create memorable experiences. It’s incumbent on us to bring products to life in ways we have not done before.”

That emphasis on newness could extend to industry relationships too. “Everybody is in this together and is open to rethinking the way forward. There is so much uncertainty now and historical data is not really of any use. The models we based our previous relationships upon need to be reset. It’s an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and to be stronger together.”