Carnival Corporation’s new chief operations officer, Alan Buckelew, has said he sees significant growth opportunities for its cruise lines in Asia.
The former CEO of Princess Cruises, Buckelew said he believes there is potential for double-digit growth in the Asian market over the next 10 years.
“The cruise vacation market is in its infancy in Asia, and we see this region as one with exciting growth potential,” Buckelew said. “The Asia market is critical to our long-term success, so we will continue to invest in this market through our people and our resources.”
Last July, Carnival announced the opening of five new offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Chengdu that now represent Princess Cruises. Offices were also opened in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Japan.
“Our new offices opened in Asia last year will support our efforts to increase the number of passengers sourced for our homeport cruises in the region,” Buckelew added.
Currently, Carnival’s Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises brands have five ships based in Asia, while AIDA Cruises, Cunard, Holland America, P&O and Seabourn all sail to the region. According to Buckelew, key markets for growth in the Asia Pacific region include China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
No Asian country is currently in the top 10 global cruise markets, in terms of passenger numbers, while only 4.4% of global cruise capacity is deployed in the region. The number of ships operating in Asia is increasing rapidly however, with a 31.6% jump in ships deployed in the region in 2014, according to the latest data from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
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