Star Cruises – ‘Sailing Strong’

Star Cruises started operations in the Indian market in 1997 by adopting the Preferred Sales Agent (PSA) route, working closely with a few agents. It started its own office in Mumbai close to a decade ago in December 1998 with priorities to set up operations and create an opportunity to sell an absolutely new product - cruises - in the Indian market. One year later, Star Cruises opened an office in New Delhi followed by representation offices in Kolkata and Bangalore and later in Ahmedabad (2004). When the company started operations with its own office, the first and foremost thing was to educate the trade about the untapped cruise segment. With adequate number of marketing visits and workshops for the travel trade, the first year witnessed excellent numbers.

Taking the PSA route
After conducting market research and feasibility studies on the market structure, Star Cruises decided to take the PSA route. The decision to take the PSA route paid off for the company, as the agents were able to market the product and provided visible results in the number of Indians opting for a cruise holiday.