Explora I is celebrating her first anniversary this week having set sail on her maiden voyage on 1st August 2023. And with Explora II launching in the autumn, ITTN’s Shane Cullen interviews Antonio Paradiso and Priti Mehta from Explora Journeys, part of the MSC Group, to discover more.
Antonio Paradiso & Priti Mehta – Explora Journeys
Antonio Paradiso was appointed VP of International Sales for MSC Group’s Cruise Division at the start of 2024 in recognition of the continued growth and success of the UK and Irish markets. This saw Antonio assuming responsibility for Australia, South Africa and Scandinavia along with continuing to serve as MD of the UK and Irish Markets for both MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys.
The Explora Journeys luxury ocean travel brand has already seen one incredible ship built in Italy by Fincantieri and within five years will grow to a fleet of six luxury units with a total capacity of more than 2,700 suites.
Supporting him is Priti Mehta, Head of Sales for the UK & Ireland for Explora Journeys and both Priti and Antonio sat down with ITTN’s Shane Cullen to share what the brand has in store for the Irish market going forward.
Explora II Launching in September 2025
Explora II will set sail this September 2025. She is the sister ship to Explora I with a similar style in terms of suites and design. The newest addition will have more interconnecting suites such is the demand in the market.
Priti explains, onboard the concept of Anthology has been updated. Shane recalled “the
standard of food was just phenomenal when I was onboard Explora I as she sailed to Copenhagen last August”.
The brand and its focus on sustainability means locally sourced fresh produce provide inspiration for menu choices and daily specials. Priti highlighted “It has only gotten better, the food has just continued to elevate.”. To get a first-hand review of the culinary & beverage philosophy and experience onboard Explora I, check out the ITTN report:
Shane highlighted that recruitment for the brand wasn’t just from MSC but from prestigious luxury hotels around the globe.
“We had a good 50:50 split. I would say 50% never set foot on anything at sea and the others, you know, were tried and tested [from the MSC brand and Yacht Club offering] as we needed a good blend because it is an incredibly different way of life. They had a lot of time before the ship came out to connect. They did a lot of intensive training before they all got on board the ship. They almost had a month together onboard the ship before we started to get some guests on board. That was proven to be so successful. We have started to do similar with Explora II.” explains Priti.
Excursions – Destination Experiences with Mike Horn
Last year, we didn’t delve into excursions and stayed onboard to enjoy the ship, however, Explora Journeys has just announced a partnership with Mike Horn.
Priti highlights, “Mike Horn’s been our Ambassador from the beginning. We had these experiences on our Reykjavik to New York on Explora I last September. That was the first of our partnerships with him. Again, because of the sustainability side of the whole MSC Group, it is his philosophy that resonates really closely with Explora Journeys, in terms of what we’re delivering in terms of Destination Experiences.”
“We now have him on the Barcelona – Barcelona journey in November where he’s taking two, quite exceptional and unusual Destination Experiences. One is in Lanzarote, which I believe is known for being a world-renowned hike. The second is going to the island of Las Palmas and that’s going really off the beaten track and into coves and landscapes that fishermen used to hide from the Pirates.”
“So again, really immersing ourselves into the islands”. The Canaries are known as a year-round sun destination but these experiences offer an opportunity to experience what is hidden beneath the surface. There is so much history and culture.
Explora I with Mike Horn – The Canary Islands
From 10-20 November 2024, guests on board Explora I will have the unparalleled opportunity to join Mike Horn on two extraordinary adventures, showcasing the wild beauty of Spain’s Lanzarote and La Palma islands. On board Explora I, the Johannesburg-born explorer will share tales of his endeavours during enriching onboard talks. The explorer will also share his knowledge of mental and physical preparation across workout sessions.
Hike Lanzarote’s Haría Extreme Wild Trail
Guests will embark on an intrepid hike up the formidable Haría Extreme ultra-marathon trail, guided by Mike Horn. Starting from Famara, they will ascend the rugged cliff face with breathtaking panorama views of island. The journey continues along the Camino de Los Gracioseros before reaching the village of Haría for lunch at the esteemed Tacande restaurant, followed by time to enjoy Haría.
La Palma’s Wild Beauty & Pirate Past by Land & Sea
Guests will delve into La Palma’s untamed beauty and intriguing history. Starting in Tijarafe, Mike Horn will guide participants through the island’s lush subtropical environment down a rugged coastal path to Porís de Candelaria, a hidden hamlet at the cliff’s base. From there, guests will sail with Mike to the spectacular Cueva Bonita, a sea cave once used by fishermen to evade pirates. Known as the ‘Atlantic Sistine Chapel,’ the cave’s walls are bathed in the soft light of sundown, creating a mesmerizing spectacle.
Explora Journeys in the Irish Market
In response to Shane’s question “How do you feel Explora Journeys as a brand is selling in the Irish market?”, Antonio shares “You can really feel the love for the brand. We are in the first year but we are slowly and steadily getting that message across because we are super confident with delivery when it comes to the experience we provide to each and every customer onboard. What we need now is to raise the awareness for such a brand.”
“It’s the beginning of the journey. We all know Rome wasn’t built in a day so one step at a time. We will be, of course, engaging more and more with the travel community. We have a fantastic team. We’ve also had Suzanne supporting us as well on this journey. We just need to make sure that more and more travel advisors understand what Explora Journeys stands for because it’s a completely different proposition.”
“The way I see it is you’ve got MSC contemporary world which is the economy, Yacht Club is more the business class and Explora Journeys is the first class. So there’s a cruise for everyone. There’s a cruise for every budget but with that, there are different expectations.”
Irish Second Only to the Swiss in Terms of Customer Value
“I think with Explora Journeys, we’re definitely tapping into the market that I believe is quite strong here in Ireland. The Irish customer is the second best customer in the world in terms of value. The Irish are only second to the Swiss. So there is a market – it’s just, we need to make sure we’re there. We’re in a great place because we are super confident when it comes to the experience itself. We just need to make sure that the people come on board and automatically become our ambassadors and start bragging about it. There is definitely so much excitement around the brand because the MSC brand is so strong.” adds Antonio.
Find Your Ocean State of Mind
“For us, I think we’ve held back a little bit because we wanted to make sure that we had the support in place. It’s not just coming out there and saying we’re another cruise brand, off you go and sell us. It’s understanding the philosophy, the story and what our points of difference are. That’s what we really need our travel advisor community to understand.”
Antonio and Priti explain it’s about the value not about the deal. The focus is the onboard experience rather than a campaign window, not that they won’t have campaigns.
Priti shared, “What the family has surprisingly and successfully done, is found a whole new niche within quite a heavily saturated sector of the industry. By introducing modern luxury, all of the contemporary design, all of the elegance that you associate with luxury and refinement but incredibly relaxed onboard.”
The tagline is “Find Your Ocean State of Mind”. It is about finding your concept of luxury whether that is exploring or relaxing, fine dining or a hybrid. It is whatever you want to be in a relaxed luxurious setting. Itineraries are blended city destinations with flight connectivity and more intimate ports that the smaller-sized ships allow. Antonio shared “We’re trying to do something different every seven nights so you can combine seven plus seven… it’s all about maximising and making the most of that little time we have off”.
Explora Travel Advisor Centre
Speaking from a trade perspective, Priti stated, “It’s really important to highlight that we launched the brand with the travel advisor at the forefront of everything we did… everything we built was trade-centric and one of the biggest things we did was build our ‘Explora Travel Advisors Centre‘. The benefit of this is as a single site, everything the travel trade wants and needs can be sourced from a single location including marketing materials, administration, the booking suite and the knowledge suite. All of the Explora Journeys assets and videos are available at the touch of a button without having to go through multiple systems. Equally, all key contact information is available here as well.
Priti explained the “My Appointment” function whereby an advisor could set up a time that was convenient for him/her for Explora Journeys to call and whereby the customer could also join that call. This showed that it is a true partnership between the brand and the travel advisor.
Another support function is where the advisor can create their own landing site. Explora Journeys provides all the assets and Priti explains “All they do is enter in their name, their email address and upload their logo. It creates a link for a page that will look like it’s an Explora Journeys page but completely overbranded with that travel advisor or that travel agency. It’s like a mini website portal that you can send to your clients… they can click on the book button and it will automatically generate an email enquiry to that agent.”
This suits the many homeworkers these days whereby they can upload their photograph and personalise the message by tailoring the wording on the page with their own text.
Priti emphasised, “We’ve taken the initiative to make it simple”.
Shane shares “And again it just shows that it’s a higher-end product., you are delivering that over to your customer – that gives the customer confidence and then obviously the agent as well”
Priti added, “Our ambassadors are also available. We literally can say 24/7 now, because if the London/UK office is closed it patches to the US. Even if they want to speak to us at three o’clock in the morning, it’ll patch through to Australia. Then we have other satellite offices but they are our three main hubs… they know that they can get an immediate response.”
Again, from an agent’s point of view, there is some hard work understanding the concept, however, Priti and her team are available to support training events, webinars including consumer webinars. This is a focus for Northern England and Scotland with a plan to replicate this in Ireland.
Finally, Thank You
Antonio concluded, “As far as I’m concerned I’ve received so much love when it comes back to MSC Cruises and I hope for that support with Explora Journeys. We’ve always been and we will always be a strong, trade-friendly brand. There are also the commercial terms, I believe we’ve always been quite generous. We’ve taken into account all to the support we’ve received from the other brand. It’s just a matter of further evolving, we just need to now increase the awareness.”
“I can see sometimes there are some misconceptions so it’s true that we never mention the price but if you do the breakdown per night and you compare it to any luxury hotel on land, we are giving great value.”
It’s not a price-driven proposition. At the same time, I invite everyone to really do the breakdown and that’s where they can actually grasp the value we’re offering. I remind you, that exceptional food is included. There aren’t many extras. Once you get on board, you’re pretty much done. You can still shop at the boutiques though!”
