Cruise Cape Town

During this panel discussion on Wednesday, moderated by Claudine of Lemoneight, we got epic insights into the ways social media is shaping the cruise industry and valuable, practical wisdom from experts on how they navigate the challenges and trends they see up ahead.

Caitlin Angeloff from Holland America began by speaking about their connections with destinations like Alaska and some VIP information on a brand new campaign coming soon. She shared the importance of storytelling to connect with the audience and how to reach out to cruisers by focusing on other areas of interest they can explore on board – for example, targeting pickleball enthusiasts to share that there are pickleball courts on the ship!

Nathalie Fernandez of Royal Caribbean International shared her perspective as someone who has grown up in a world immersed in social media her entire life. She discussed the impact seen by partnering with influencers from outside the cruise world, such as a food influencer with a moderate but very loyal following.

Scott Eddy, the host of VideoGlobetrotter, discussed the importance of building connections on social media. He highlighted the impact of remembering that it’s another human being on the other side of the screen and engaging and replying to them with that in mind. He also spoke about being visible on all platforms and the importance of having different content aimed at the audience that uses each platform. Demonstrating the impact of storytelling, Scott also told us about his seven voyages with Azamara and how understanding the brand through and through helped him share it authentically.

Rounding out the panel, Herve Bellaiche of Ponant also addressed the importance of connecting to your audience – specifically, the smaller high-end and luxury markets they serve. He spoke about the different audiences we reach on different social media platforms and how to connect with each. He also shared a story about managing responses to media reports around crisis situations, and how to manage a company image on social channels when situations arise.