Silversea's Sean J Mahoney & Karen Christensen

All-inclusive Silversea charter voyages for the incentive market are proving to be big business for the luxury cruise line with room for growth in the Asia Pacific region, according to visiting Global VP, Corporate & Incentive Sales, Sean Mahoney.

Visiting Sydney earlier this week, Mr Mahoney said the Australian incentive market was poised to increase business for the cruise line, due to its already mature FIT component.

"The cruise industry is already so mature here, we don't need to sell the idea of cruising," Mr Mahoney said to e-Travel Blackboard during an exclusive interview.

Already securing two to three full-ship charters for incentives from Australian companies, Mr Mahoney said they would now focus on building further brand awareness as well as marketing to smaller incentive groups.

"90 per cent of all corporate incentives are charters, but the groups' space is also growing in this region," he said.

Mr Mahoney said Australia's resilience to bounce back from the Global Financial Crisis has made the market more lucrative to luxury brands such as Silversea, who offer organizers direct cost- comparisons to other five star resorts.

"We have already achieved 85 per cent of our targets for 2011, which in total will represent approximately 15-20 per cent of the entire revenue for the cruise line," Mr Mahoney said.

"There is room for growth, but we don't need to discount our product to do so, which would diminish the brand"

"Incentive travel is important to the success of a company, and should be part of the solution instead of the problem."

The USA market continues to be Silversea's biggest earner for the incentive market, with the Mediterranean taking out the top spot as the most popular destination for charter groups.