The Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Silversea cruise brands are on a mission to work more collaboratively, according to new EMEA boss of Royal Caribbean Gerard Nolan, who admitted that the line’s Caribbean cruises are under performing against other markets
The operator’s regional vice president and managing director told the CLIA Forum in Windsor yesterday that the family of operators are ‘part of something bigger’ than their individual brands as they strive to expand the cruise market in the UK.
“It’s a mission we are all on together to bring the brands together and find synergies,” Nolan said. “There are so many opportunities to do things together. There could be partnerships with certain airlines or trade partners to work together for the collective good.”
Nolan said the group was seeing “exceptionally strong” trading, reflected in its share price, and load factors of 111 per cent, “way in excess of pre-pandemic levels”.
He added yields are seeing double digit growth, largely driven by the line’s core US market, but Nolan said, “we have been really pleased with the UK and European markets”.
Nolan was also questioned on the line’s controversial plans to roll out refundable deposit schemes in the UK & Ireland, saying agents should wait to see the data before judging the success.
“We need to get passengers there”
The Caribbean market has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels, which Nolan put down to long-haul not coming back as strongly as other sectors following COVID lockdowns.
Nolan said the “trust factor” in long haul has not yet returned and people are preferring the convenience of staying closer to home. “We are working closely with airlines, because we all need to get passengers there,” Nolan added.
With 32 million cruisers worldwide and two million in the UK, Nolan said “our ability to grow is still very much untapped” and Royal Caribbean needs to stand out against land based holidays in terms of value for money on ships that are “destinations in their own right”.
Opening the Clia forum MSC Cruises’ vice president of international sales Antonio Paradiso said the sector generates £5.8 billion for the UK economy and supports 60,000 jobs. “This goes to show how our industry has a positive impact on economic growth and employment rates,” he said.
He added that nearly three quarters of cruisers say that travel advisors have a “meaningful” impact on their decision to cruise.
“This is how important the trade community is to our business. We will continue to rely on and invest in you to make sure we continue to push cruising.
“I’m pretty sure that 2024 is looking likely to have been another record-breaking year in the UK and Ireland. It’s a team effort; this is where the cruise industry really excels.”