Joaquin Salgueiro He started in the family business as soon as he graduated from high school and moved through different positions from the basic ones to the place where he works today, as Vice President of Organfur, the only cruise consolidator in Argentina that has been working with companies like Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Australis Cruises, Norwegian Cruise, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruisesamong other.
The cruise industry is going through an encouraging present, compared to 2020, and in accordance with global industry statistics, Argentina recovered the business it had lost during the pandemic.
The last season saw 733 calls in Argentine ports (76% were in Ushuaia) and 755 thousand tourists arrived, mostly from Brazil, Uruguay and the United States.
Journalist: How has the industry changed from your beginnings to today?
Joaquín Salqueiro: At first the strategy was to be in contact with the agencies to make the cruise visible, since it was key to attracting clients at that time; Today everything happens through a digital facet, the passenger has a lot of information at their fingertips and many times arrives at the consultation with more information than the travel agent himself, so the specialist’s advice covers the dark points that are not so well known or recommendations or the travel experience that the agency has in order to ensure that the client has the best possible experience.
On the other hand, today cruises are a destination in themselves. Before, obviously the attractions and the show were important, but today we see that there are boats with a water park, karting tracks, with huge streets, shopping, several restaurants, different swimming pools, spaces for adults, with entire neighborhoods dedicated to families. . You could easily avoid getting off at the ports and your stay would be fabulous.
Q: So today cruise ships have more prominence than the destinations they visit?
JS: Not necessarily. There are shipping companies that stand out for the quantity and quality of ports they visit in the world, on smaller ships with personalized attention and fewer attractions, since the important thing is the different itineraries.
Q: How was the evolution of the cruise passenger?
JS: A few years ago it was associated with a luxury product, mostly for the elderly, and today it is more associated with a mass product, and for all ages. There are many companies that offer ultra-luxury options on smaller designer ships, with very sophisticated cuisine, as well as massive ships that are really very affordable. Before, you had to explain the product to the passenger, since there were many fears and prejudices, today I think there is a lot more information, more material on social networks, in videos and in experience in forums that tell how they experienced it first-hand and I think that They have strengthened the arguments in favor of taking a cruise for vacation.
Q: How do you make the attention of the agencies compatible with that of the direct public?
JS: Investment in technological development allows us to have a platform with which we work with all Cruise companies, today we have ten, and our goal is to have more than twenty, and in this way cover almost all of them, except those that are very niche. That is, we consolidate all the cruise companies in one place, to facilitate the reservation processes so that they are extremely simple, going from a reservation in eight steps to one in three, being more accessible for both the passenger and the agency. travel. As in our case we are dedicated exclusively to cruises, we are the most trained and knowledgeable, given that it is a product that really needs specialization and we are certified in all shipping companies; Our team knows the ships, from visits to the Port of Buenos Aires or from trips, therefore, they know the product first-hand. In Latin America we are leaders in sales after Mexico and Brazil.
Q: How do you measure the cruise business in this new stage of the Argentine economy.
JS: Regarding the new scenario in Argentina, I am optimistic and beyond this, I see numbers in which our sales exceed those of 2023, we also see an economy with a recession that was to be expected before any government; Today for us this scenario is favorable since we sell more, both in number of passengers and in billing, because the product is sold in dollars which allows us to make them more profitable by reducing the gap with the official exchange rate, and there is stability. of the prices in dollars, which is what the tourist begins to look favorably on, that is, spending the summer abroad, in a product that includes a lot and in a context of recession, the cruise is an excellent alternative, since the passenger pays when booking with the chosen conditions, and without extras, this being a great differential; with the addition that the ships are true boutique hotels at sea with entertainment and infrastructure, a true “all inclusive”.
Q: How did activity at Organfur develop during the first half of 2024?
JS: For our company, the month of May was a record month since we had a total production of 1,973 individual passengers (not including the generation of new groups), thinking that it is a month considered low season, it is a result that long ago seemed utopian. Without a doubt, today is the best time to buy your 2025 vacation, abroad with everything included. We are going through a year of growth and expansion with indicators that confirm that more agencies are finding a profitable business in the marketing of cruises.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
