The ongoing conflicts in the Eastern Mediterranean and its spillover effects continues to create hesitation around travel to the region, says Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL), the second largest cruise shipping group in the world. However, other sectors of its business perform well.
“Some of this was already evident at the time of the company's last guidance.However, during the second quarter, the civil unrest in the EasternMediterranean expanded to other areas including Syria and Greece and the level of concern amongst travelers grew as tensions in the region dominated the headlines. This has resulted in a full year yield reduction of approximately150 basis points versus April guidance.”
Net Yields for the Mediterranean are now expected to be down approximately 4% for the year, which is in stark contrast with the rest of the company's portfolio.The impact related to the events in Japan was reasonably clear by the time ofthe last guidance. The impact on bookings was immediate, but the situation has now stabilized. The guidance for 2011 has not changed materially from previous guidance and the outlook going forward is very positive.
“In a reversal of the trends observed in April, the company's revenues have been negatively influenced by the strengthening of the U.S. Dollar relative to other currencies. Assuming current currency exchange rates, the company expects Net Yields for the full year on an as-reported basis to decline approximately 50 basis points from its previous guidance as a result of currency.”
The company noted that with the exception of the Eastern Mediterranean, it continues to observe strong demand for its products, especially the Caribbean,Alaska and Northern Europe. The strength of this demand (both rate and volume)reinforces that Eastern Mediterranean pricing softness this summer appears to be geopolitically related and that the economic demand for its products is strong. Further supporting this premise, excluding the Mediterranean, NetYields for the year are expected to be up approximately 8% (approximately 6% ona Constant-Currency basis), RCCL said.
