| FACE-2-FACE: 24 Nov 21

KATRINA McAlpine

Commercial Director Australia & New Zealand, Cunard Line

1. What is your favourite part of your job?

Currently, it’s the tangible excitement preparing for our return to cruising. Even though for Cunard it’s still a while away in Australia, I can’t wait to see one of our sister brands’ ships sail into Sydney Harbour again.

2. What attracted you to a career in the cruise industry?

I landed in the industry by coincidence when I was 20 years old, fresh off the plane from New Zealand on a temping contract doing administration work. I immediately fell in love with the company and the industry and the rest is history.

3. What is key to success in the cruise industry?

Listening to our guests. We need to build our brands, products and services so that they deliver what the guests want and need now, as well as have the foresight for what guests will want and need in the future. The key to turn those desires into strategies and visions, is our people both aboard and shoreside. We have such incredible people in our business, and I feel inspired to work with them all every day.

4. How has COVID-19 changed the way you do your job?

I think it is fair to say that almost everything has changed. We work remotely at the moment, we have gained some new people in the team and lost some on the way, we have had to drop our actual jobs in lieu of what needed to be done for the business at any given time — the list is endless. I think our resilience and empathy has changed, and our ability to do a lot more with a lot less. A really positive by product is being able to get closer to customer touchpoints during this period, and it has been a timely reminder as we are ramping back up in operations that our guests are the centre point of everything we do at Cunard.

5. What is the best thing to say to people who are hesitant to cruise?

I think it is always key to understand what their hesitancy is rather than assume. This is where our travel agent community is so valuable, their incredible knowledge to find the right cruise for the guests and help to educate is amazing. So I guess I would say talk to your travel agent!

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