创新在海上舞台
经过丹尼尔·麦卡锡(Daniel McCarthy)/皇家加勒比海邮轮航行的大多数人可能无法爬到船上的岩壁顶部,但是拥有它对船上的每个人都是有意义的。
“The truth is most of our guests can’t climb to the top. But they want the option,” said Royal Caribbean International chairman and CEO Richard Fain. “It says something about the industry. It really helps redefine us.”
Indeed, redefining cruising through innovation was the theme of the State of the Cruise Industry panel at the 32nd本周在劳德代尔堡的SeaTrade Cruise Global年度。
Royal Caribbean’s Fain was joined by Norwegian Cruise Line president and CEO Frank Del Rio, Carnival Corporation president and CEO Arnold Donald, and MSC Cruises executive chairman Pierfrancesco Vago on the panel.
根据德尔里奥(Del Rio)的说法,邮轮行业每年以6%的稳定增长,这在很大程度上不是进入市场的新船只,而是归因于较老的船只提供的新选择。
他说:“ NCL将花费超过亿美元来升级我们的船只。”“您将看到一种更加平衡的新建筑方法,并维护现有的舰队。”
唐纳德(Donald)说,对于狂欢节,通往创新的路线来自听乘客。“您必须以不同的方式思考。我们非常仔细地倾听客人。”他说。“对我们来说,创新实际上是您将这种思维差异转化为最终的经历的方式。”
独奏小屋
尽管Cruise Lines试图迎合独奏旅行者的不断增长的市场,但NCL的Del Rio表示,指定在船上向独奏旅行者指定大量客舱并没有财务上的意义。“这不是最好的回报,这是足够的回报,对我们来说,我们将在所有新建筑中包括单个小屋,”德尔里奥说。“但是我怀疑我们会增加百分比。”
德尔里奥说:“这是一种创新,但这不是我们最重要的创新。”
但是,并非每个人都同意。库纳德对玛丽皇后2的翻新增加了15个独奏小屋,这是首席执行官戴维·诺耶斯(David Noyes),称为“我们市场的重要部分”。
“在最初的伊丽莎白女王,玛丽女王,和Queen Elizabeth 2, there were a number of solo cabins and we’re following in that tradition,” he said. Noyes said Cunard almost always sells out of solo cabins on each sailing.
Zika和增长的挑战
Though the cruise industry is constantly growing, there are potential challenges on the horizon: fuel prices going up, Zika and other viruses spreading, and political tensions and terrorist attacks. Yet all the panelists predicted strong growth, with new ships and new destinations increasing the total number of cruise passengers from 23 million in 2015 to 24 million this year.
Fain说:“该行业的历史非常悠久。”
“That stuff happens every year. So as long as it happens every year the way it’s be happening, as long as people don’t totally panic, we’re fine,” agreed Donald. “It’s just part of our business.”
古巴
在美国官员的那一天举行的邮轮会议上开放古巴向单个旅行者旅行,共产主义岛显然是一个热门话题。
唐纳德说:“我们正在急切地等待批准。”
While Cuba does not have the infrastructure to support mega-ships right now, it will provide a spotlight for the Caribbean as a region, just as Royal’s rock-wall provides a spotlight for its brand. “In terms of size, it’s not going to divert that much traffic from other places because it doesn’t have the capability of handing that many ships,” said Fain. But “it has created a halo of interest…I think it will raise the Caribbean in total.”
加勒比海是当今最大的巡航目的地(占所有部署的42%-43%),因此我认为古巴在开放时……将向整个整个地区发光。”