LAS VEGAS -- Dick West, who has kept a low profile since the demise last September of his cruise line, Cruise West, made an unexpected appearance here to promote a new cruise concept he’s working on.
Walking the trade show floor at the Travel Weekly LeisureWorld 2011 Conference, West said he was working to start Explorer Cruises, a company that will not own any ships but will charter small operators’ vessels as tour operators do.
He cited the past success that Cruise West had with its operations in the Galapagos and Europe, where it chartered ships for short cruise seasons.
“There are a lot of small operators that have one ship or three ships and don’t have a foothold in the U.S. market,” West said.
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Cruise West is now in bankruptcy, West said, and he is still suffering the financial repercussions of having mortgaged his house last summer to try and keep the line afloat.
He plans to market cruises on Explorer Cruises to Cruise West’s past passengers. However, the former line’s database now belongs to InnerSea Discoveries, the Alaska small-ship cruise company launching operations this summer.
Therefore, West plans to reach out via Cruise West Facebook fan pages and to the past guests he is personally in touch with.
He likened his new role to being an “at-home travel agent,” and he said he would charter operators’ ships around the world, package cruises with value-adds like pre- and post-cruise trips and airport transfers and market directly to consumers.
“It’s an opportunity not being fulfilled,” he said.
One area where West will not look to operate in the near future is Alaska, where his family had been in the tourism business from the 1940s until Cruise West closed its doors last year.
He said he was curently looking to work with operators on the ground in South America and Europe.