Key Trends in Cruising 2021

Summary

The global cruise industry was growing and evolving with companies targeting a new demographic and aiming to offer new destinations and activities to grow their market share. COVID-19 devastated the industry as sailings were suspended, causing cruise lines to reassess their business models. This report analyzes the actions they are taking and explores other current and future trends in traveler types and cruise destinations.

Key Highlights

– The worldwide shutdown of the industry, brought on by the emergence of the COVID-19 virus early in 2020, has meant cruising is one of the largest casualties of the tourism sector. At the beginning of the pandemic, before the world knew the extent of the damage the virus would cause, the cruise industry suffered a hard blow with the Diamond Princess cruise ship being denied docking rights off the coast of Japan due to an outbreak of the highly contagious virus onboard. This high profile event shone a light on the catastrophic impact cruising may be facing if the spread of the virus went worldwide.
– June 2020 saw the return of the first cruise ship for paying passengers with the sailing of cruise line Hurtigruten operating some coastal itineraries around Norway. This was followed by MSC operating limited sailings across the Mediterranean, a popular destination for cruising in the summer months[86]. Other sailings did occur but on a drastically reduced schedule to what should have been operated in 2020. These limited sailings, although not without incidents of COVID-19 outbreaks, have allowed cruise lines to share knowledge and best operating practices to prepare for the time where cruising can return en masse.
– COVID-19 has given cruise companies the unique opportunity to accelerate the rollout of technological advancements to not only attract tech-savvy passengers but to help comply with new COVID-19 operating procedures. The downtime cruising has been forced to take has given companies the time to implement technological investment that was in the pipeline or has allowed them to speed up the fleet-wide rollout of technological solutions as the fleet could not be in operational use. This has created a competitive advantage for the firms who have used this time wisely.

Scope

– This report analyzes the actions cruise lines are taking to combat the deleterious impact of COVID-19 and explores other current and future trends in traveler types and cruise destinations.

Reasons to Buy

– Gain an insight into the cruise industries leading players.
– Understand how they have adapted to the threat of COVID-19
– Understand the key traveler types cruise companies can look to attract
– Look at the key destinations and why they appeal
– Gain a detailed understanding of the key trends, isseus and chellenges facing cruiseline operators