With a " excellent year 2016 "With a market that is growing both in terms of volume and value, the French directors of Costa Cruises - and in particular its particularly dynamic MICE department - came to preach the good word to the specialist press on Thursday. Their message was clear: cruising has everything to appeal to French companies and agencies, but there is still much to be done to raise awareness of its advantages. strengths in the MICE segment.
floating convention centres
Flexibility, " hyper-customisation" Accessibility - both geographical and financial - and infrastructure: Costa's managers in France detailed point by point the arguments that make cruising the easy solution, in the true sense of the word. Referring to " real floating congress centres "Costa Croisières France President Georges Azouze stresses the practicality of a cruise ship, which can accommodate all the participants in a MICE event, rather than spreading out their accommodation between different hotels. What's more departures from Marseille guarantee the accessibility of the offer to the French public, thanks to the many rail and air services that converge on the city of Marseille.
However, despite a solid argument and some twenty years' experience In the MICE segment, Costa Crociere managers in France are surprised by the lack of awareness of the product, particularly in the French market. Indeed, the penetration rate of cruises in France is currently limited to 0.9%. In concrete terms, 99 out of 100 French people would therefore never have experienced this travel format... There is therefore enormous room for improvement, and attractive growth prospects for the Italian company.
Generating vocations
Hence the importance for cruise operators of focusing on a MICE product that today represents 10% for Costa's business in FranceWith consumption above the passenger average. And, above all, it should help to boost the rest of the business. " The group effect generates vocations "So Georges Azouze is looking forward to 2017 with good resolutions for the French market, both for MICE and leisure customers.
