Royal Caribbean drops 115,000 direct mail pieces next week to promote its European summer tours and the launch of a new ship in its European fleet, raising the total to three.
This is Royal Caribbean's first major campaign for its European tours.
The mailer has multiple panels highlighting attractions in the Mediterranean, including the Parthenon, the Sistine Chapel, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Pompeii. It gives details of the itineraries and maps of the different ports of call, plus information on all three ships. Three tours are offered, two to the Mediterranean and one to northern Europe.
Of the 115,000 mailers, 5,000 to 8,000 will be sent to those who requested information. The rest will go to an even split of Crown & Anchor Society travel club members and past guests.
The mailer follows promotion of the Europe tours in the latest issue of Crown & Anchor Magazine, which went last month to nearly 1 million people. The second page of the magazine is a letter to the recipient from Jack Williams, president and chief operating officer of Royal Caribbean International, telling recipients that 2003 is the year to travel to Europe with Royal Caribbean International.
The letter also mentions that Italy and Greece are featured within a three-page foldout section in the issue along with other sites they can visit on a European tour. It also notes the new ship, the Brilliance of the Seas.
Both the mail piece and the magazine contain gift certificates of varying amounts that can be used for cruises.
A print campaign will run in December issues of travel and lifestyle publications including National Geographic Traveler, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel and Leisure, Food and Wine, T&L Golf, The New Yorker and O, The Oprah Magazine.
The campaign is to run through the fourth quarter. Arnold Worldwide, Boston, handled the effort for Royal Caribbean.
