Mar
15
It’s only the first day of the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Conference in Miami and there’s already a central theme developing: cruising is going global in a big way.
What used to be a travel industry focused primarily on North Americans – and a small percentage of them at that — is apparently looking to expand into new markets and new destinations faster than you can say “up the gangplank.” And the results are going to be more ships, carrying a wider diversity of passengers, visiting a broader variety of ports in future than we have ever seen in the past.
The reason for this sea change of philosophy is quite simple. The rest of the world has always had a much lower rate of penetration in terms of the percentage of the population that has cruised versus North America. But the combination of declining cruise fares and increasing per capita incomes around the world is creating a compelling proposition for cruise lines to expand into new markets.
In addition, a growing number of government agencies around the world are beginning to realize the full economic impact of having cruise ships decant thousands 
of passengers into their major tourist destinations for a day or more. As a result, they are building new port facilities, launching aggressive marketing campaigns, and competing to get more cruise ship visits.
In fact, at both the morning and afternoon panel discussions at this annual gathering of cruise mavens, the main topics were sourcing new cruise passengers and developing new cruise markets for ships. And a number of international agencies made compelling presentations on why their markets were best primed for an expanded cruise ship presence, including Australia, Europe, Hong Kong and Africa.
As a result, the world’s major cruise lines have begun to base ships in new markets like Dubai, add more exotic ports to their itineraries like Vietnam and Taiwan, expand the range of itineraries in far-flung places like Australia and Hong Kong, and expand the cruising season in regions like Europe where several lines now operate year-long in the Mediterranean. In particular, Med cruises in the winter appeal to a number of northern Europeans.
In addition, a number of major cruise lines are now going after passengers from non-North American markets such as Brazil, Chile, Eastern Europe, Mexico, Africa and Asia. In fact, Royal Caribbean’s Spanish subsidiary Pullman Tours recently announced it will be home porting a ship in Acapulco in compliance with Mexican cabotage laws. The move is seen as a joint effort by RCI and the Mexican authorities to further develop the cruising market in Mexico.
That’s not to say that Americans and Canadians are no longer a priority market. North America, which sourced some 13 million passengers in 2009, is still the world’s most lucrative cruise market. And we’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of its potential.
As one of the conference speakers from Royal Caribbean pointed out, nearly as many Americans visit Branson, Missouri every year as those who take cruises. So there is still lots of growth potential left for the North American market. However, there is even greater potential outside of North America because the percentage of the population in those markets who have taken a cruise has traditionally been much lower.
While the Miami Cruise Shipping conference is barely one day old, there’s no mistaking what the cruise industry officials here are trying to tell us: the world of cruising is about to get more international, take us to many new destinations, and introduce us to a lot of exciting cultures.
So far, I like what I’m hearing.
(Commodore Dave is reporting from the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Conference in Miami.)
