Carnival Corporation expands fleet in China to an industry-leading six ships in 2016
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 23 July 2015 23 July 2015
Carnival Corporation & plc, the world's largest travel and leisure company, today announced it will add two ships to its China fleet in 2016, making it the first global cruise company with six total ships based in China. The move will increase Carnival Corporation's total capacity in China by an additional 58 percent in 2016, further accelerating the company's leadership position in the growing Chinese market, which continually delivers double-digit annual returns and is expected to eventually become the largest cruise market in the world.
Carnival Corporation's fleet of six China-based ships will include expanded offerings from its two leading brands in the market – Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises – that are each adding one new ship to meet growing cruise demand in China. Across the two brands, Carnival Corporation will have three year-round ships and three seasonal ships in the market, representing the largest cruise presence in China in 2016.
Together, the Costa and Princess brands will potentially offer about four million passenger cruise days in 2016, giving Chinese guests more choice and flexibility in both the contemporary and luxury segments. Based on the accelerating consumer demand for cruises in China, Carnival Corporation's added capacity is expected to significantly increase the company's total number of cruise passengers in China in 2016.
Included in this new deployment is today's announcement made during a press conference in Beijing that Princess Cruises will send its Golden Princess ship to northern China in 2016, sailing out of Tianjin on a seasonal basis, with itineraries visiting a variety of desirable destinations in northern Asia. Golden Princess joins the brand's first China-based ship, Sapphire Princess, which has been homeported in Shanghai since 2014 and will start sailing year-round in China in 2016. The brand's two-ship deployment in 2016 will more than double its total available guest capacity in China compared to 2015, putting Princess Cruises in an even stronger position to serve the luxury cruise segment with its exclusive Princess Class experience designed specifically for the Chinese market.
Costa Cruises, a leading cruise brand in China and the first global cruise brand to introduce cruising to the market in 2006, recently announced it will debut Costa Fortuna in April 2016 as its fourth ship based in China. Costa Fortuna joins Costa Serena, Costa Atlantica and Costa Victoria already based in China, increasing the brand's total available capacity in China by 43 percent in 2016.
"Our Costa and Princess brands are performing extremely well in China, and these new ship deployments will strengthen our growth position and enable us to carry nearly one million passengers in 2016, as we continue executing our plan to meet surging consumer demand for cruising in China," said Alan Buckelew, chief operations officer for Carnival Corporation. "As momentum accelerates in the market, we have a significant opportunity to increase cruising demand amongst China's growing middle class and a new generation of Chinese travelers who are hungry for new vacation experiences."
Buckelew added: "Our focus is on exceeding guest expectations on every ship and really tailoring our product for Chinese tastes, which helps create new advocates and spread the joy of cruising in China. Through our brands, our expanding operations and our potential joint ventures in China, we're excited to play a lead role in helping China become one of the world's leading cruise markets."
In addition to expanding its industry-leading presence in China in 2016, Carnival Corporation recently announced that the latest ship under construction for its Princess brand will be based in China year-round when introduced in summer 2017. Based in Shanghai, the ship will be the first year-round international luxury vessel designed and built specifically for Chinese guests.
Carnival Corporation is also exploring potential joint ventures in China with China Merchants Group (CMG) and China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) designed to accelerate the growth of the overall cruise industry in China, including the possibility of launching a world-class Chinese domestic cruise brand, building new ships in China, and supporting port and infrastructure development. These efforts support Carnival Corporation's commitment to help China realize its goal to develop cruising as a key economic driver for its economy and become one of the leading cruise markets in the world.
Cruise tourism grows in Malta
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 23 July 2015 23 July 2015
Cruise passenger statistics published today for the period April – June 2015 show a very healthy growth of 66.4% when compared to the same period last year. The number of cruise liners calling in the Maltese Islands also grew from 89 calls in April to June 2014 to 108 calls in the same period this year.
This excellent performance in the second quarter of the year results in a cumulative 39.9% increase for the first 6 months of year when compared to January to June 2014.
Malta’s cruise sector is once again on a growth curve particularly as a result of a number of positive initiatives, foremost amongst which is the performance of the MSC and Costa lines with more regular calls and larger ships together with the extended season of the TUI home-porting operation from Valletta harbour.
The positive performance of Q2 2015 translated in the increase of 81,860 cruise passengers to reach a total of 205,224 cruise passengers for the three months.
In the period under review, the second quarter of 2015, impressive growth has been particularly registered from a number of important markets, namely Germany (+ 333.4% or 38,268 more passengers), Italy (+49.7% or 11,134 more passengers) and Spain (+337.4% or 7,045 more passengers). Smaller markets such as the Australian (+84.1% or 3,067 more passengers), the US (+10.3% or 1,272 more passengers) and the Japanese market (+272.7% or 1,017 more passengers) have also featured healthy double digit increases.
The Malta Tourism Authority is very satisfied with these results. MTA CEO Paul Bugeja stated that, “Apart from the immediate benefits of cruise passengers’ spending in Malta’s economy particularly in Valletta and Grand Harbour business communities, the fact that such a large number are visiting our islands for a few hours allows us to showcase what Malta can offer and address many misconceptions that anybody who does not know Malta today, may have. Many of these day visitors tend to come back to our shores for a longer holiday shortly after visiting.”
Cruise line companies costumer surveys confirm that Malta is a strong selling point for their itineraries and cruise planners are choosing to include Malta and Gozo for the smaller ships, in line with customers requests and interests.
Royal Caribbean International appoints Jim Berra as new Chief Marketing Officer
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 21 July 2015 21 July 2015
Royal Caribbean International, the world’s largest global cruise line, has named Jim Berra Chief Marketing Officer. Jim will be responsible for all aspects of the cruise line’s marketing program, including brand strategy and positioning, consumer and trade advertising, web and loyalty marketing, research, brand development and communications. He will report to Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO.
“We are delighted to have Jim join our team,” said Michael. “With so many exciting initiatives on the immediate horizon for our brand, we feel that Jim’s impressive history of creativity and proven results will continue the momentum of innovation the brand has created.”
Jim most recently served as senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Carnival Cruise Line where he oversaw the company's advertising, public relations, customer marketing and digital efforts.
Previously, he served as senior vice president and general manager for Rodale Interactive, where he led the development and marketing of the company’s online businesses. Rodale is a global media company publishing some of the best-known health and wellness lifestyle magazines and books. Prior to that Jim also held various marketing positions at Starwood Hotels & Resorts including as the senior vice president of customer marketing and strategic alliances, where he oversaw Starwood’s loyalty programs, customer relationship management and strategic alliances. Jim began his marketing career at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.
Jim received Bachelor’s degrees in economics and philosophy from Northwestern University. He has been recognized with several awards and was listed as one of the World's 50 Most Influential CMOs in 2013 and 2014 by Forbes Magazine; received the Industry Impact Award by Inside Flyer Magazine; and was included in Brand Week’s list of Next Generation Marketers.
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