New cruise booking app urges lines to woo younger audience

The co-founder of a new cruise booking app has urged lines to target younger audiences in their marketing campaigns as half his customers are below the age of 43.

My Kind of Cruise was fully launched in January and claims to be the world’s first fully bookable cruise holiday app.

There have been more than 100,000 downloads, with 35 being the average age of a client booking via the app. The oldest customer to book so far is aged 87.

My Kind of Cruise says clients can book a cruise in less than two minutes, with the process for repeat customers taking just 45 seconds.

Two thirds (65%) of downloads have been generated via social media, mostly through TikTok, which accounts for 30% of users.

Sefton Monk (pictured), co-founder of My Kind of Cruise, said: “People keep asking why cruising now appeals to a younger audience, but really they should be asking why the cruise industry doesn’t market itself to a younger audience.

“Our research has shown that 66% of millennials and under [those aged below 43] want to book their holidays via an app, which is why we are seeing so much interest and demand.

“We developed My Kind of Cruise to be as user-friendly and accessible as possible, and as such our users have a suitably diverse range of ages.

“Cruising is for everyone, and our app clearly demonstrates that, whether you’re booking a cruise aged 18 or aged 98.”

My Kind of Cruise aims to take away the “hassle” of buying a cruise over the phone.

It enables customers to search, book and compare sailings for different cruise ships, cruise lines and sailings.

About 80% of bookings are made out of hours between 6pm and 9am on weekdays, and Saturday and Sunday evenings.

The app can serve its audience round the clock through online-only communications.

It is available to UK residents in the App Store and on Google Play.

More: Your Stories: Sefton Monk spotted a gap in the market for a cruise booking app – so he created one