WTM - LONDON- REPORT: Cruise holidays are too good value for money according to a senior industry figure speaking at World Travel Market, the global event for the travel industry.
    
Richard Fain, chairman and chief executive of Royal Caribbean, told the session there was still too much value in cruise pricing, which decreased following the economic turmoil and was not recovering fast enough.

“I would like to fix that. We are making our way back up and the fact that we can shows the power of the industry. The value proposition is so great and, when people understand that, our business grows exponentially. We need to do better at getting that message out.”

He went on to say that while the company was doing well despite difficult trading conditions, it should be ‘orders of magnitude’ ahead in terms of revenue and profit. Fain was speaking as Royal Caribbean announced figures showing it now attracts more people from outside the US on its ships.

The company will carry 1.5 million first time cruisers this year but that is still only a small percentage of the potential cruise passengers worldwide.

“In the US fewer than 20% have taken a cruise, in the UK fewer than 15% and on the Continent it’s infinitesimal so the opportunities are tremendous.”
    
He said the company, whose brands include Celebrity and Azamara, had been steadily increasing its passengers from outside the US through aggressively building up offices and deploying its fleet in different regions. “Hitting that tipping point has really attracted everyone’s attention but it has not happened overnight.”

Fain went on to say that while it takes a while for people to catch on what cruising is all about, Britons get it. “It’s almost as good penetration as we have in the US.”