‘It is about the same price as a river cruise in Europe and the ships hold a similar number of passengers,’ says Graham, the company’s business development manager APAC. ‘Every agent has river cruise clients these days and sometimes they have been on European rivers multiple times. If they are interested in wildlife and adventure and they’re keen to see polar bears and arctic foxes they might be keen to do something different.’
Graham points out that Quark is completely focused on polar journeys. ‘Another point of difference is our expedition team. The industry average is 12 passengers to one expedition team member – ours is six to one. It means our passengers can be off the ship a lot longer.’
He compares the experience to an African safari. ‘The ship is the lodge but it moves from one site to the other, and the zodiac is the four-wheel drive.’
Graham was in Auckland last week one of his regular visits to New Zealand agents and a key message right now is the 2028 Arctic and 2028-29 Antarctic seasons.
‘Right now we have the lowest price that people will be able to get for those seasons,’ he says.
The early booking bonus gives clients up to 10% off, an additional 5% saving if paid in full plus up to an extra US$2000 off an all voyages.
Graham adds that 85 to 90% of Quark’s bookings come through the travel trade but accepts that some agents are not totally comfortable selling expedition.
‘Passengers have done research themselves and sometimes they know more than the agents do. But that’s where we come in – we’re happy to have a three-way conversation and we know it works well (for conversion). That’s why agents-bring-clients events are so great.’
He says clients themselves are far more comfortable with the concept of polar cruising than they may have been.
‘There are so many players in the market now so selling Antarctic and Arctic is not hard but the key is always to put the right person on the right ship. There is a product for everyone so the more knowledge an agent has the more power they will have.’
