VANCOUVER— Leveraging location and strong demographic similarities between its hotel guests and cruisegoers, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts this summer set sail several new marketing packages. The new offerings were specifically designed by Fairmont to tap into the more than one million cruise passengers slated to visit the Vancouver area over the course of the summer en route to their cruise. Vancouver is a high-traffic port for North American cruises, particularly Alaskan cruises which are popular in the summer months. Attempting to lure cruise customers to lengthen their vacations either before or after their cruise, or enjoy unique tours of the area, three Fairmont Vancouver hotels each launched a new package. The multi-property strategy focuses on tapping into a built-in summer market to bring in incremental business while traffic in the area with cruisers was high. The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, for instance, rolled out a “Ship Tease” promotion that gives guests a peek behind the scenes, with LandSea Tours of Vancouver’s hip neighborhoods and sites, including The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, which is an historic castle. Since cruisers must come to Vancouver to meet their ship, why not make it easy for them to check out the area, according to the company. In a promotion designed to take advantage of the early arrival of guests who visit Vancouver the day before their ship is set to sail, or those who prefer to linger after stepping ashore from their cruise, The Fairmont Waterfront hotel offers a “Connect with Your Cruise Ship” package. Since the property is located directly across from the cruise ship terminal, and more than 75% of its rooms offer views of the inner harbor, the hotel aims to give guests second thoughts about boarding the ship, or leaving Vancouver. For cruisers on the fly, The Fairmont Vancouver Airport is a good place to touch down, since the hotel’s signature Fairmont Gold floor offers “Airlines to Cruiselines,” which offers guests special pricing and placement in the hotel. With a large majority of the Alaskan cruisers aged 35 and older— and affluent— the demographics match up with Fairmont’s target guests, the company said. Therefore, the upscale hotel brand hopes to book most of the cruise ship passengers that come through Vancouver this summer, which could result in loyal Fairmont guests. Already, the hotels are having success with the programs. The Fairmont Waterfront, for example, had booked 32 “Connect with your Cruise Ship” packages at press time since the program was launched in May 2004. To further the reach of the promotions, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts markets the promotions on its website, through the Tourism Vancouver website, its sales team, travel agents and other media outlets. By using distribution channels that are not costly, the return on these marketing strategies is high, according to the company.
