Cruise Baltic captures North America

For the first time ever Cruise Baltic Project has chosen to market itself as a unique brand to the North American market with a road-show which focuses on the compact size of the region, the destinations’ cooperation and the cultural and historic experiences offered by the region.

It is one thing to send a brochure, news letter or other material; it is something else to meet the cruise ship company decision makers face to face if you want to keep your product at the front of their mind when next season’s cruises are being planned. This was the conclusion of the manager of information and sales promotion, Andreas Eriksson, Port of Helsingborg, and the rest of Cruise Baltic Project seven months ago when the network was Cruise Baltic Project’s North American marketing strategy.

Andreas Eriksson has recently returned from a road-show – in cooperation with Cruise Europe – which marketed the Baltic region and its 19 destinations, targeting the twelve most important North American-based cruise ship companies. The road-show focussed on the sheer number of experiences one can find in this relatively small geographical region, and how much the Baltic region has to offer in terms of its culture and history. ‘Easy to sell, easy to operate in’, is the headline for the cruise ship companies, and Andreas Eriksson has only had positive feedback in response to the USA tour:

- This is the first time we have pitched Cruise Baltic Project to a market which ought to consider us more seriously when they plan cruises. We know that the Baltic region is an area where there is mutual interest. We meet many of the needs tourists from these areas demand of their cruises. We have the historic attractions and cultural events the target group seeks when planning its travels; this is also a safe region to travel in.

One further aspect Andreas Eriksson focused on in his presentation of Cruise Baltic Project is that the network is constantly welcoming new destinations, which means that the cruise lines always have new places to plan their routes from. In addition, there is another plus in that the region has a reputation for being able to guarantee high quality:

- It is important both for tourism and the cruise ship operators that they get the product they expect when they buy or plan a trip. We maintain high standards in the Baltic region. Tourists should be confident that they have bought a quality product when they buy a cruise to the Baltic region. We also know that the American market expects that the Baltic region offers a guarantee of a certain standard and that the facilities will be in order.

- We were, without exception, enthusiastically received by the various cruise lines. The subjects covered included the future deployment of their vessels; port development; access to various ports; itineraries; the cost of fuel; and in a few cases certain operational issues related to specific ports. I think we fulfilled our objective to heighten awareness of our region among the destination planners and decision makers of the North American-based cruise line companies.

The road-show strategy is long term. Besides participating in conferences, exhibitions, trade fares and other marketing initiatives, the only thing left to do is wait and see how the twelve cruise line programmes look next season.