With guest occupancy totalling 4,375, the cruise liner’s service to The Bahamas is expected to strengthen the country’s position as the premier destination for cruise visitors even further.
“The Caribbean has been the heart of our operations always. Although we’ve branched out into the world and we’re active in other places like Europe and Alaska, the Caribbean is still at least half of our business or even more,” said Adam Goldstein, President of Royal Caribbean International (RCI).
In 2004 five million tourists visited The Bahamas shores, with majority being cruise visitors.
The Ministry of Tourism also unveiled some of its strategies earlier this year to continue to attract substantial numbers of both cruise and stop over visitors.
The changing dynamic of the cruise industry is also luring more visitors to opt for cruises which offer travellers more options and value for money, factors industry experts said would widen the gap between the number of stopover visitors and the number of cruise visitors.
Any doubts about the popularity of cruise travel could be erased by the fact that the industry earns close to $20 billion annually.
Since Royal Caribbean International, along with Carnival, dominates 80 per cent of the market, tourism officials are in accord that its business is important to The Bahamas.
During the Nassau Tourism Conference in January, Tommy Thompson, Deputy Director of Tourism, explained that all-inclusive convenience has enhanced the appeal of cruises, and the direction cruise operators are taking in the service and experience it offers its passengers is positively shaping the growth of the industry.
“According to the research that we’ve seen, cruise tourists are equally or more satisfied with their cruise vacation than they are with taking any other form of holiday period,” said Mr Goldstein.
Larger cruise ships, such as the Freedom of the Seas, the world’s largest, will also help to sustain growing cruise visitor numbers which would translate into more dollars for the hosting destinations.
“Upgrading” is the common term for moving up from one vacation package to another. Now the advent of supersizing has been transferred from fast-food to travel, especially in the cruise industry, where Freedom of the Seas is “the latest trend of supersizing ships”.
Even before it was a rough sketch on a sheet of paper, Freedom of the Seas, which took its maiden voyage recently, was predestined to be king of the seas. A design concept, three million square feet of steel and four years later, the ship emerged as the cr�me de la cr�me carrier of the cruise industry several weeks ago.
According to Mr Thompson earlier this year, “A lot of people are opting for the [cruise vacation]. The prices are good, the entertainment, and the food are all included in that. What cruise tourists are spending in addition to the expenses associated with the all-inclusive package is much less than what the average stop-over visitor spends, which is another factor that is driving the success of the cruise industry.”
Despite the growing popularity of larger cruises, Mr Goldstein did note that not every traveller would go for that option.
Royal Caribbean has plans for further expansion in the short-term. In February this year the company placed an order for a $1.24 billion vessel, which upon completion would succeed the Freedom of the Seas as the world’s largest and most expensive liner.
By BARRY WILLIAMS, Guardian Business Reporter
