Cruise Shipping Miami optimistic about 2011
Value, innovation, vacation penetration and teamwork are the essential factors that keep the industry at the forefront of consumer demand[ds_preview] despite the global financial crisis, natural desaster and political upheaval. «Our industry is resilient because we don’t rest on our lurels, we are listening and taking action,« said Jan Schwartz CLIA’s new marketing chair at the State of the Industry session. «We show consumers on a global level the value of cruising versus land-based vacations.«
Like Schwartz all of the penalists – Stein Kruse (Holland America Line), Gerald Cahill (Carnival Cruise Lines), Dan Hanrahan (Celebrity Cruises), Pierfrancesco Vago (MSC Cruises), Adam Goldstein (Royal Caribbean International and Kevin Sheehan (Norwegian Cruise Line) – agree on the industry’s resilience coming out of the recession.
On the environmental side air emmissions are taking the forefront of the technological discussion. Adam Goldstein, CEO of Royal Caribbean International described how the tide changed from the interaction of the industry with the water to the pollution of the air. »The conversations about sulfur, carbon and equivalences sure do keep us busy.« With a lot of regulatory bodies involved around the world, Goldstein asked for a global standard to support the entire industry. In his remarks MSC’s Vago puts the spotlight on Europe with a 163 % increase in passenger volume ofer the past ten years. A rich variety of ports in different coutries with multiple international airlift options makes it the perfect year-round destination with a potential to be »the new Caribbean«. »Europe has not been penetrated. So we still have a lot of ground to cover. The old perception is that cruising is boring and expensive. Cruising will always be a tremendous value for money,« Vago added.
Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, chairman of the European Cruise Council takes the topic further in a dedicated sesssion. Europe sees itself as an integral part of the global industry with no competition between the US and European markets. The emerging markets support the further growth of the whole industry. »Only by having strong US and European markets the industry as a whole can effectively exert its collective influence in promoting and achieving an international regulatory environment which is of benefit to the sector and its customers. While the ECC will be striving to ensure that the regulatory regime in Europe, an equally important objective is to work shoulder to shoulder with CLIA and its US members in seeking workable global rules.«
