Informational Interview

Informational interview with Malcolm Petersen, Customer Relations Manager for Princess Cruises.

How he came to be in the position of Customer Relations Manager:
When he was younger, he would watch the TV show “The Loveboat”, which inspired him to work for a cruise line. He wanted “to work with people instead of machines”. Therefore, he studied Hotel Management for three years in South Africa and then worked in various hotels for four years. Finally, he has been working for Princess Cruises for the past ten years.

Interview:
Are there any changes you would suggest in order to improve the Hotel and Leisure industry?
I would implement more training. To make employee recruiting a more selective and strict process, so that we get people who genuinely want to work with people. Also, I think the staff needs to be paid more. If the staff is happy, the customers will be happy.

Have you noticed any trends in the Cruise industry in the past few years?
Actually, in the past five years, most cruise lines and especially Princess Cruises, have increased customer services. Especially since competitors started offering the same facilities and similar packages as us, we tried even harder to offer excellent services. This is because our services is something that competitors cannot copy or take away.

Has the economy affected the cruise industry in the past few years?
Two years ago there was a big drop in booking. Some companies even had to sell some of their ships. Princess Cruises, however, managed to hold on to its customer base by dropping rates. It was more important to us to maintain a full ship, because you can't sail with an empty ship. For instance, we managed to somewhat maintain our revenue by implementing new conditions for passengers, such as requiring them to buy beverages, in order to make up for the reduced rates of our packages. This drop lasted for about two years. Other cruise lines couldn't afford to drop their rates because the salaries of the staff were of a higher standard. Princess hired people from third world countries who didn't have high demands, and who were in need of a job. Therefore, for example, an Indian would not have the same demands as a European and therefore there was no difficulty reducing our rates.

Do you think the Cruise industry is rising?
Yes, cruises are now in great demand. Even for those who are not wealthy, or when the economy is not at its best, people choose to go on cruises now. The ship has all the facilities one would need, our passengers travel to various locations and they prefer cruises because they are much cheaper than flights and staying at hotels and other resorts.

Has Princess Cruises used any specific marketing campaigns to attract more customers?
We employ a large number of travel agents, and that's how we get most of our customers. We haven't used any specific marketing campaigns; people often hear about us through word of mouth.

Does Princess Cruises practice Corporate Social Responsibility?
We usually donate money to natural disasters. We generate revenue for reliefs by advertising it on board for the passengers to donate, and the crew generates donations as well. Oftentimes, when we need to renew mattresses or pillows etc, we offload our previous ones on to poor islands that we pass so that they can be given to the inhabitants.
In addition, Princess really looks after its staff. We are very sensitive to the needs of our crew, and this makes for a happier work environment.

Does the Cruise Line intend to expand internationally?
Princess plans to build two new ships in 2013 and 2014. This will expand the business and cover new and different ports of course. The good thing is it will create new positions for the already existing crew, and will offer new job opportunities, since an average ship has a crew of about 1,100 people.