Aqua Expeditions founder hints at seventh vessel for 20th anniversary

The founder of Aqua Expeditions has said the operator will “probably” announce the addition of a seventh ship to its fleet “soon” as it approaches its 20th anniversary.

 

The small-ship expedition specialist currently has a fleet of six vessels operating in East Africa, the Arctic, the Galapagos, Indonesia, the Mekong River and the Amazon River.

 

Founder Francesco Galli Zugaro told Aspire sister title Travel Weekly he was not interested “to grow for the sake of growing” but wanted to expand “because it makes sense”.

 

He said: “Next year is the 20th anniversary, and we will have operated six ships [in that time], and we will probably announce another one soon.

 

“That means seven ships in 20 years, which is just under one every three years.”

 

Galli Zugaro said he “never wanted” to grow by two or three ships a year or exceed 40 passengers per ship as the expedition company needs to “tread carefully” in fragile ecosystems and bear in mind the business bandwidth and maintaining an elevated customer experience.

 

“It benefits us that we’re small and we’re launching new product,” he said, adding he wanted to ensure the brand was “never out of sight or out of mind” by bringing something “new to market” every two to three years.

 

Aqua Expeditions carries 6,500 passengers per year and is 25% ahead of its forecast for 2027 with more than 50% of capacity already sold, Galli Zugaro added.

 

He said the trade brought in 40% of global revenue, of which 50% was booked online, showing its investment in technology and agent resources was “performing well”.

 

“It is through technology we’re able to convert,” he said. “For a $60 million revenue business, I only have 11 people in reservations, which is quite small.”

 

He said Aqua Expeditions was developing an AI assistant for its sales team to “be more efficient” and launched an AI-empowered digital asset management platform.

 

Galli Zugaro said he was “excited” for the company’s future with the trade, and the luxury specialist was “investing heavily” in the UK market, which is its second largest source of customers behind the combined market of the US and Canada.  

 

He said the operator’s first ship visit in Glasgow on the fleet’s newest ship Aqua Lares was “very productive” and “a rare opportunity” given its typical remote locations, as he committed to hosting agents on board twice a year in the city, with the next event due to take place on September 24.

 

Galli Zugaro said: “The UK is where we have strong past guest loyalty and an incredible collection of high-level boutique operators that are adventure and destination specialists, contrary to the US where you have large mainstream tour operators.”

 

He said the UK team was “booked up solid with back-to-back” events and roadshows to engage with the trade.

 

Speaking about Ponant taking a stake in the business last year, he said it had been “an incredible year and a half” which had brought “a lot of benefits”, such as better fuel prices on fuel, technical support and demand for charters.

 

He said: “It is a super complimentary partnership where not only do I have a new home and it is nice to have a big brother watching over you because things can go wrong sometimes.”

 

Looking ahead to new destinations, Galli Zugaro said there were “plenty” he wanted to go to, but it “takes time” to develop, build, finance, launch, operate and market.