Virgin Voyages has reiterated the new cruise line’s unique positioning, with executives from the company saying Scarlet Lady and her sister-ships will fill a void in the market that’s yet to be tapped by big ship operators.
Speaking exclusively with LATTE while in Sydney recently, Chief Commercial Officer Nirmal Saverimuttu said Virgin Voyages’ strict stance on a child-free environment fills an untouched void in the cruise market.
“Virgin always looks for the ‘white space’. We look for gaps in the marketplace. We look to respond to a unmet consumer need and when we did our research the thing that came through loud and clear was that as soon as we said we would create an adult-only experience, people automatically realised that it would be more elevated and sophisticated,” he said.
“They thought we don’t have to worry about chicken nuggets anymore. You can actually have “foodie” food. You can put bars in your restaurants, you don’t have to have big dining halls, you can do lots of things at a very different level.”
Saverimuttu said another popular trend Virgin Voyages is playing off in the hospitality sector is the gravitation by “modern consumers” to boutique hotel-like experiences.
“These experiences that have great design, great food and are very experiential. We use experience as a luxury now. We are all living our lives now looking for that ‘Instagram moment’, and this thesis is played out in hotels. It is played out in gyms, in apparel, in technology. We think that it should play out in the cruise industry.
“There is this unmet need that we can fulfil, and as a brand, we are very unique in position to do exactly that.”
Saverimuttu explained that Virgin is brand that has stood for giving people a “very high-end, very exclusive experience”. An experience that makes them feel special and luxurious, but “without all the formality that you typically get in these kind of typical luxury experiences.”
“I think Australian consumers in particular love that version of luxury. Australian consumers are looking for that luxury without the stuffiness and the formality.”
Nirmal Saverimuttu, Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Voyages
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously. We like to have a joke and we like to have a laugh, and this idea of dancing on tables at Necker Island I think very much sums it up,” Saverimuttu concluded.
More on Virgin Voyages at virginvoyages.com/
Lead image: Virgin Voyages’ The Manor Alluring Nightclub. Images supplied by Virgin Voyages.
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