Members & Travel Agents
How Will We Reimagine Our Guest Experiences? By Beth Kelly Hatt, President of Aquila’s Center for Cruise Excellence, FCCA’s Official Training Partner
C
an any of us predict what will change in the coming months when it comes to guest experiences on tours and experiences in your destination? As there continue to be plenty questions around cruising, we see cruise lines reinventing the onboard experience, and those of us offering experiences on land need to do the same. We are in a new environment – our guests’ needs are different; our operations will need to be different. Adapting to new protocols and procedures will require changes to our products and guest experiences, and although this is a challenge, it is also a remarkable opportunity. This is a time to reimagine our current experiences and develop new ones. It is a chance to breathe new life into our tour programs, and to create new and exciting options for the changing needs of cruise lines and their guests.
“THIS IS WHEN WE ALL NEED TO TAKE THE TIME TO THINK THROUGH THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE AND HOW ALL OF THESE NEW PROTOCOLS WILL IMPACT OUR VENUES, VEHICLES, SHOPS ETC.” We expect the first guests will be avid cruisers, with more family and friend ‘bubbles’ traveling together and wanting private tour experiences. Cruise lines may even create a ‘bubble’ of their own, allowing for only guests on prescheduled tours—with preapproved operators following specific 46 THIRD QUARTER 2020 | TRAVEL & CRUISE
