The Carnival Corporation seeks to gain momentum in the current period of growth experienced by the tourist cruise sector and relies on one of the consumer groups with the greatest prospects and loyalty, Hispanics.
According to the latest projections of the International Association of Cruise Lines (CLIA), by 2018 it is expected that 27.2 million passengers will embark on a cruise, in a year in which they are expected to add 27 new boats (for navigation in sea and rivers).
The passenger data, higher than the estimated 25.8 million for this 2017, reflects that “cruise travel is constantly increasing”, as the association points out, the largest of its kind on the planet.
CLIA also states that the demand for cruise travel has increased by 20.5% between 2011 and 2016, and that the global impact that this business left in 2016 reached 126,000 million dollars.
“Based on our own experience, traveling on cruises is gaining popularity among Hispanics in ways that we had not even noticed, they like to travel alone, in pairs, with families and friends,” Efe’s senior vice president of Corporate Communications told Efe. Carnival, Roger Frizzell.
The executive alluded to a recent study by the consulting firm J.D. Power, commissioned by CLIA, and which reflected that one in three Hispanics prefers to travel on cruises, and that is “more relevant among Hispanic millennials.”
The reason would be, in his opinion, that this holiday offer has “affordable” prices and offers a “valuable experience”, with entertainment options on board and on land for different generations, which makes it a good family option.
“Each member of the family will find something to have fun,” says Frizzell, who points out that Hispanics are not only the most loyal consumers, but also among the most active in social networks and who have deep-rooted values such as family and tradition.
Among Hispanics, the value of a cruise is the possibility of traveling to multiple destinations in a single trip and having access to several food and entertainment options on board, and at a reasonable price.
The CLIA study reveals that a third of cruise passengers have a family budget of about $ 80,000 per year.
The Carnival Corporation, with nine brands and a combined fleet of more than 100 ships that travel to more than 700 ports in the world, is the main cruise company and, according to the executive, controls 50% of the market.
The cruises, however, within the large photo of the tourist industry, barely concentrate 2% of beds, according to Frizzell, and in that sense, before going for the market shares left by the cruise industry, Carnival seeks to pursue “that 98%”.
“We do not see the other cruise lines as our competitors, but we really see the land-based holidays” as the competition, he said.
Among Americans, who are the largest buyers of cruise tickets, this holiday offer has grown 20% faster than the vacations by land and those expectations have led the Corporation to produce the series for television and cable “Ocean Original”, some of which are broadcasted by the NBC and ABC channels.
This week, Carnival announced its partnership with the Hispanic network Univisión to produce “La Gran Surpresa”, the seventh of this series and the first directed to the Hispanic audience, which will be hosted by the presenter Poncho de Anda.
To be released on January 7, in its first six episodes, this one-hour series will include the participation of other presenters of the chain and it will be seen in more than 80 of the 103 cruises the company has, as well as in its “OceanView” streaming channel, the first of a leisure travel provider.
In 2018, Carnival brands will introduce four new ships and its Holland America Line line began this month to sail from Fort Lauderdale, in southern Florida, to Havana and Cienfuegos, in Cuba, a country that together with China is one of your new markets to explore.
All this activity is based on the fact that cruises are “one of the fastest growing industries on the planet,” says Frizzell.
