Travel agents still No. 1 for cruise bookings

BY ANGELA TABLAC

atablac@MiamiHerald.com

Booking a cruise this year? Chances are, you won't book your spot online.

While the Internet hammered away at middlemen in other sectors, such as airline ticket sales, the fast-growing cruise industry has maintained strong ties with cruise planners. Online cruise revenue is growing, but agents still complete more than 90 percent of the industry's bookings, several cruise lines said.

Online cruise bookings will total $2.5 billion in 2007, up from $1.7 billion in 2005, according to a travel forecast published in October by Internet market-research firm JupiterResearch. That's expected to jump to $4 billion by 2011.

However, travel agents say they aren't worried. Cruises are complex, big-ticket items, not commodities like flights. Travelers must choose among a host of brands, ships, accommodations and itineraries, and agents can offer them the personalized attention that websites cannot.