MSC adds muscle to its management

MSC Cruises has bold
plans to expand its
presence in the South
African market and promote
its international offering with
the appointment of Johann
Strydom as its md in South
Africa.
“It’s the first time the cruise
line has ever appointed an md
in South Africa,” says Daphne
Osborne ceo of MSC Cruises
South Africa. “Over the years
we’ve got bigger and now we’re
grand enough to have a bigger
management team.”
MSC Cruises is in the midst
of the second phase of its
global growth strategy, with 11
new next-generation hi-tech
mega cruise ships to come
into service between 2017
and 2026. Johann will be
driving the growth of MSC’s
international product sales and
awareness in South Africa.
“The SA travel trade is
already very familiar with our
local ships. It’s now our aim
to create greater awareness of
the cruise line’s international
product offering by training
agents and launching an
awareness campaign on
what differentiates MSC’s
international brand from
others,” says Johann.
“There is a growing demand
from South Africans for
international cruises. MSC
has never really focused on its
international portfolio in South
Africa but there is much more
interest now,” says Daphne.
The cruise line will also
expand its local product
offering by launching cruises
to a second big Southern
African destination along
the Mozambican coastline.
It will make an official
announcement on this in the
next two months.
“MSC has bigger ships
serving the SA market than it
used to. Every time you bring
a larger ship to South Africa
you’re looking at an additional
1 000 passengers a week,”
says Daphne. One of the
problems this poses is that
there are not enough local
destinations to cater for this
demand, she says. Daphne
and Allan Foggitt, commercial
sales and marketing director
of MSC Cruises South Africa,
will be driving the development
of the infrastructure at the new
Mozambican destination.
The expansion plans will see
a greater influence from the
brand’s head office, shifting
the company culture from a
family business to a more
corporate environment – a
change Johann will facilitate,
he says. “There are many
things you don’t want to lose
from a family business but
there are a lot of things in a
corporate environment that you
want to bring on board. It’s a
very challenging and exciting
prospect.”