WHITESTAR Cruise &
Travel’s sales of this
year’s RMS Queen
Mary 2 cruises from Cape
Town to Sydney have taken
a more than 40% knock due
to the rand’s decline against
the British pound and the
impact on the market of new
competitor, Imagine Cruising.
The Cunard agship called at
Cape Town on January 27/28
as part of its annual world
voyage, marking the end of
an 18-night sector between
Southampton and Cape Town
and the start of the 22-night
sector to Sydney, calling at
Durban, Mauritius, Perth and
Melbourne. Whitestar’s cruises
on the SA/Australia leg are
priced between R20 625 and
R28 065pps.
Whitestar Cruise & Travel
partner, Paul Clarke, says
about 700 of the 1 000
passengers who embarked at
Cape Town were SA clients.
However, Whitestar this year
managed to sell only about
400 cruises compared with
700 last year. He blames this
mainly on the currency fall.
However, the entrance into
the local market in December
2012 of UK’s Imagine Cruising
clearly has had an impact
as well. While the company
declines to go on record
regarding passenger numbers,
md, Robin Deller, says: “We
have had huge success with
Cunard in 2013 by nding
additional routes to market
and providing the consumer
with a fully packaged cruise
offering priced in local currency
to establish the value that
cruising has over a land-based
holiday. All packages are
tailored to suit the individual
needs to encompass air, land
and sea to provide them with
their own unique experience.”
Meanwhile, Whitestar owner,
Carol McCarthy, advises that
discounted fares for cruise
sectors in regional waters can
be negotiated and advises
agents to contact her in this
regard.
