I have an “Idea” that I think would be great for the cruise industry

After 9 months of phone calls and emails, this ambitious tour operator with a great “Idea” was no farther along in his quest than when he started. He was able to gain access to one cruise executive at a local event. They stated that they liked his “Idea.” But then what?

The client: Funtastic Tours

The issue: Funtastic Tours had been lobbying different people in the cruise industry for nine months with their tour “idea.” He was finally able to make contact with a Carnival cruise executive.  They liked his “idea,” but that was the end of it. Funtastic Tours had two challenges. First, his product wasn’t ready to present to the cruise industry. He had an “idea,” but no content. Second, he was talking to the wrong department. The cruising executive he was talking to was not involved in purchasing Shore Excursions.

The process: Access Cruise spoke with Funtastic Tours and first determined that they indeed had a viable “idea” and would work for the cruise industry. Now Access Cruise needed to take the “idea” and develop it into a product that cruise lines could sell. Here’s the process.

    • Conducted a competitive analysis of pricing and product
    • Determined costs and developed an ROI
    • Recommended equipment changes
    • Determined net price points
    • Developed safety plans & waiver forms
    • Wrote tour descriptions and tour time tables
    • Developed a sales presentation
    • Lobbied the cruise lines to submit proposals

It takes a lot to get an “idea” to come to fruition. Funtastic Tours now has a full product.

The outcome: Access Cruise delivered a complete product to Funtastic Tours.  Now, we are contacting the cruise executives to establish a contract. That was the plan. Right?

Well, it isn’t always smooth sailing when trying to work with the cruise lines.  The cruise executives weren’t comfortable picking up a new tour operator with no previous experience, despite the tour fitting all the criteria.  So, what next?

Access Cruise moved to Plan B. This was just some choppy weather. We contacted another tour operator that has a long standing contract with different cruise lines. They signed on to support the start-up ground operations.

Funtastic Tours will begin by selling their product on the pier to guests coming off the cruise lines.  We have already approached the onboard Shore Excursion staff to invite them on a familiarization trip.  Once we all the operational “kinks” worked out of the program, then we will once again approach the cruise lines for a contract.

In the meantime, Funtastic Tours is generating more revenue on the pier by selling at retail, instead of wholesale prices. The traffic flow coming off the cruise ships is consistent, so while the tour capacity isn’t guaranteed, Funtastic Tours will still generate strong tour sales from the cruise industry.

Reynolds, Owner, Fantastic Tours

“It’s been a long journey of ups and downs, but we finally have a cruise contract. From start to finish Access Cruise has supported me in fine-tuning our presentation, tour description & tour timings as well as developing an ROI and giving me sound advice on how to break into the industry. The Access Cruise team is fantastic. We could not have done it without them.”