With an eye on recovery, Cruise Industry News has released its 2021 Luxury Market Report, signaling a hopeful return to a post-COVID cruise community. The PDF report features their in-depth analysis of the high-end cruise market. Given the downturn the industry has seen, this new report looks to the future with hopes for a swift revival.
The 2021 report dissects luxury cruises operating around the globe, while presenting the growth projections for each brand through 2027. The analysis is in-depth, given the dire nature of the cruise business this past year, and showcases over 120 pages of data, analysis, interviews and more.
Luxury cruises are big, but exclusive, business. A 2016 study conducted by Allianz Global Network reported that two-out-of-three Americans had never even been on a cruise. Those unitiated with sea-travel may fall into the trap of believing untrue notions about short excursions, uneven demographics of passengers, and the most detrimental to the bottom line, the belief that cruise ships are prime candidates for bacterial outbreaks. With an industry working overtime to challenge these notions, coronvarius arrived and ramped them all up ten-fold.
That's all the more reason that those behind the hull are eager to bring customers back and prove that sea-life is alive and well. It's part of the reason why this new report is being met with such applause.
"Travelers are picking up their dreams and trying to make them reality as fast as possible," Barbara Muckermann, chief marketing officer of Silversea Cruises, told Travel and Leisure.
The engines, they are are starting. This coming April, as the European yachting season kicks off, the very first Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection vessel, the mammoth 298-passenger Evrima, is scheduled to make its long-awaited initial voyage. Regent's Seven Seas Splendor is also primed to sail through the Mediterranean this year.
New expedition line Atlas Ocean Voyages has plans to launch, as well. The World Navigator, a giant 196-passenger ship, with all-inclusive fares covering even emergency medical-evacuation insurance for its guests. From there, Celebrity Cruises prepares to unveil the 2,918-passenger Celebrity Apex, the new sister line to the popular Celebrity Edge. That too will offer all-inclusive pricing.
Of course, Carnival Cruise Lines won't be outdone as it unleashes the 5,282-passenger Mardi Gras. This monster vessel comes with an onboard roller coaster - the first of its kind for a cruise ship.
COVID might not be over yet, but it's getting there. When it does, there will be a line of people ready to sail away from the memories. The industry is counting on it.
Sources: Cruise Industry News, CN Traveler, Travel and Leisure.