TravTalk India Online Magazine
Jurgen Bailom, President and CEO of Waterways Leisure and Cordelia Cruises, reveals how they are giving a taste of cruising to Indians in the country and how cruising across India’s coast, as well as to the neighbouring countries can be one of the best experiences.
How has the cruise industry evolved over the past few years, and what trends do you foresee for the market?
Timing proved critical when we entered the market. There are two distinct segments in the cruise industry: cruises that stop in India en route to other destinations, and those that start and end in India, primarily catering to Indian passengers. The latter was our focus. Post-pandemic, we’ve seen an upswing in the market as people are keen on leisure experiences like ours.
What different routes and destinations does Cordelia have in mind?
Currently, we operate from India throughout the year. From September to June, Mumbai serves as our homeport, cruising to Goa, Kochi, and Lakshadweep. During the monsoon, we switch to the eastern coast, cruising from Chennai to three Sri Lankan ports: Hambantota, Trincomalee, and Jaffna. Next year, we plan to expand to Middle East and in the long term, when we have three ships, we would have them at different ports and explore new ports like Kolkata, Port Blair, Diu, New Mangalore, Porbandar, Vizag, Pondicherry and many more, along with ports we are already calling to. This positioning is necessary to market and operate cruises in India.
How is Cordelia different from other cruises?
The coastline of India is very long and runs approximately 7516 km long, with nine coastal states, four union territories, and two groups of islands, in addition to its immensely rich cultural heritage. If there is a cruise company tailored to different countries and regions, Indians deserve their own cruise company. They should be able to enjoy cruising from their own country, without needing to travel abroad for this experience. Cordelia offers essentially all Indian experiences to its guests: watching cricket, Bollywood entertainment, Jain food, vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisine. It prides itself on doing everything the ‘Indian way’, providing a home away from home experience.
Any new innovations or technological advancements by the company?
We have developed our entire booking engine and reservation system in India. Since our inception, we have been continuously advancing on technology and tools to embolden our partners and guests. We have developed a mobile application that provides passengers with a range of features and services. For the ease of the customers, we have deployed a payment system that allows user to pay in multiple transactions, which in turn has resulted in one of the highest conversion rates. While we have most of the technology build inhouse by our tech team, all our vendor with respect to technology are India based. We are keen towards exploring the Indian startup fever and unicorns. We also have an app that offers functionalities such as online check-in, digital boarding passes, itinerary management, onboard activity schedules and all the necessary information. It helps to enhance convenience and allows passengers to have information at their fingertips. Other technology such as the cruise card which serves as a personal identification document and will enable passengers to charge shipboard purchases, use it as a cabin key card, and allow the traveller to embark and disembark the ship in ports and acts as a souvenir of the wonderful experience customer had onboard.
How do you handle customer feedback?
All guests receive an email notification to complete a guest form within 24 hours. Some statistics show that on a scale of 1 to 5, our average score is 4.7. 80 to 90 per cent of our guests are very satisfied. We always strive to provide what the majority of our guests prefer, maintaining a balanced approach in doing so. We also have a customer care centre to address any issues or complaints and ensure they are resolved. Our onboard crew is a highly capable team that guests can turn to for assistance, with staff effectively managing any concerns raised.
What are your plans for working with travel agents?
We have put a lot of effort into marketing. We are heavily focused on B2B/B2C, MICE, corporates, TAS, and OTMS, which means we target and focus on all segments of the industry. Our product caters to everyone. We believe the tourism sector is tightly knit, and partnerships constitute a crucial sector for us. We welcome everyone to sell our product. Partnerships are crucial, and we support each other. We invest, and our partners have a superior product to sell. This approach guarantees them a substantial earning opportunity in terms of commission, which ranges between 10-18 per cent. We are also expanding our B2B team to increase engagement and synergies with the travel agent community.
