When it comes to China and Cuba, the cruise world hasn't seen anything yet.
As part of the "The State of the Global Cruise Industry" keynote at Seatrade Global Cruise Convention 2018, panel moderator Peter Greenberg (CBS News) asked cruise leaders for updates about some of the past headlining topics at past Seatrades.
Assembled to give their answers were: Frank J. Del Rio (President and CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.), Arnold W. Donald (President and CEO, Carnival Corporation & PLC.), Richard D. Fain (Chairman & CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.) and Pierfrancesco Vago (Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises)
China may seem like old cruising news to some, as it was the main theme of Seatrade two years ago. At that time, it was the new destination of choice for just about every single cruise company as they rushed to create supply to meet demand.
The market exploded even further and, at Seatrade last year, it was announced that China had overtaken Germany as the second largest cruise market.
Yet, while Del Rio says the cruise market in China is indeed getting better, he still calls the destination, "a work in progress."
"As an industry, we're amazingly good at creating something that didn't exists before, Fain said. "China is a good example. We're no longer a niche player…you're seeing that in the United States, you're beginning to see that in Europe…you'll see that in Asia and China as well."
Vago noted that China's population is waiting to travel with less restrictions and believes the cruise industry is ready to explode there even further.
"It's a B2B business," Donald noted on the intricacies of reaching consumers in the centrally-controlled country. "It's going to be the largest cruise market in the world in some time in the future." Arnold Donald
Moving onto Cuba: Much like China before it, cruise companies have been racing to add supply in Cuba thanks to U.S. policy changes under President Barack Obama. Yet, even as President Donald Trump's administration has been less bullish about Cuban travel, there haven't been many bigger travel trends in the past year.
Del Rio, himself a Cuban-American, said Norwegian is doubling their capacity to Cuba in 2018, noting that the "Trump administration has impacted the cruise industry very little compared to land companies."
"Cuba has been great for the industry," Del Rio said.
That growth includes recently released 2018 itineraries for the Norwegian Sun which will feature the company's first stop in Havana on cruises longer than seven days.
"These are small, beginning things," Donald noted before calling Cuba "fantastic."
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