True North pointing younger

WHILE True North founder Chad Avenell (pictured) admits that historically his cruise line has attracted an older 55-65 demographic, he revealed to Travel Daily that more recently a younger profile of traveller is seeking out the allure of premium adventure cruising as well.

“It’s definitely getting younger… we’re getting a lot more kids in their twenties jumping on board our ships with their parents and they think it’s amazing because they have that adventurous nature,” he said.

When asked about how True North currently positions itself in the Aussie market, the company’s chief conceded “it’s a difficult question to answer” at times, because the brand occupies a unique space in cruising. “It’s not necessarily that we don’t know who we are but it’s sometimes hard to get across to other people who we are,” Avenell confides.

“We’re different because we go to a destination and go fishing and go snorkelling and with the luxury of the tenders and the helicopters, we get to see the destination from every facet of what we do,” he observed.

“Because it is it isn’t a cheap holiday and when you look at some of our competitors, some people might say ‘for the same kind of price or less I could get a suite with a butler and a couple of restaurants on board’…but for us we are really looking for those with an adventurous spirit.”

A testament to the product it offers is also the high 40% customer return rate, with Avenell suggesting part of the reason for the high number is that no cruise it runs is the same. The helicopters on board its ships for example open up a varied number of ways to explore each destination. True North is also expanding to new destinations, read CW to find out where and when. AB