The all-inclusive model introduced by HX Expeditions has “proved itself very well” over the past year, according to CEO Gebhard Rainer, as growing global demand for expedition cruising continues to reshape the market.

Speaking to LATTE during a visit to Sydney this week, Rainer confirmed that the all-inclusive concept had been “really well accepted by our customers.” “One of the things that they wanted to have is a simplification in terms of planning for their own vacations,” he explained.

Rainer, who joined HX from all-inclusive hospitality brand Sandals, added that the approach has also helped to redefine perceptions of the term “all-inclusive”. “It had this stigma attached that once it’s all-inclusive, it must be cheap, it must be cheerful, it must be not good quality – but none of that really applies anymore,” he pointed out.

“You can still have it, but there is differentiation and with us over this last year now, your inclusive concept really proved very well. Our customers are very happy with and operationally, it works very well as well.”

While he “absolutely” sees HX as an all-inclusive pioneer within the expedition cruise sector, the spread of the all-inclusive model from hospitality into other segments in recent years has made HX’s own transition an easier concept for both consumers and the trade to grasp, according to Rainer.

“All inclusive has really spread from hospitality into other segments as well. It’s not the norm yet, but it’s become the new desire of many areas to come up with the simplicity of pricing an experience, without having to nickel and dime the consumer along that journey,” he said.

That simplicity has resonated strongly amid what Rainer described as “very healthy growth” in global demand for expedition travel. “The market since 2019 pre-pandemic has grown over 70% in expedition, in terms of demand – consumer demand and consumer purchase,” he said. “The US market has seen year over year growth of over 50%. The Australia, New Zealand market has seen close to 30% growth year over year.”

With greater demand comes greater competition, but Rainer is adamant this is good news for HX. “Competition is healthy. It helps expedition to be more exposed and be more seen,” he said.

But he expects the landscape to shift further over the coming years. “I think there’s going to be a natural selection or natural cleansing,” he predicted. “Because within the field of companies that are there now, there’s too many onesies and twosies. “There [are] small ones that would have difficulty surviving. We’ve seen the beginning of that already with Exploris in France that just declared bankruptcy. And I think there’s going to be others that will emerge and and collapse into larger organisations.”

Amid these competitive shifts, Rainer sees HX’s future as certain thanks to its clear point of difference around science and sustainability. “The advantage that we have, or the advantage that we have built, is the fact that we are the only ones at the moment that are clearly focused on sustainability, science and education,” he said.

“We work with over 30 different scientific institutes around the world. We have constantly scientists on board that work on projects. Every one of our ships has professional science lab as well. All of our customers can participate as science citizen scientists.”

He referred to HX’s recent expansion of its partnership with UTAS as case in point, with the free educational series extended to cover Arctic destinations.