More than 11,000 cruise industry, shipyard, trade, operations and product development executives are in Miami Beach for Cruise Shipping Miami this week. Travel Agent will be running stories throughout the next few days on various topics. The conference continues today and tomorrow.
Here’s a look at Adam Goldstein’s “State of the Industry” talk to attendees this week about the big picture at Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
CLIA Overview
“CLIA turns 40 this year,” said Goldstein, president of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., and chairman of CLIA Global. He noted that CLIA “started keeping statistics when we were 5,” and about 1.4 million people cruised in 1980. That compares with 23 million expected to cruise this year, up from 22.1 million last year.
Sixteen times more people are cruising than four decades ago, or as Goldstein explained – about 500,000 berths versus 41,000 berths.
“So we’ve really come a long way and CLIA really strives to be the unifying voice of the industry so that our cause is well understood and respected throughout the world as we grow," he said.
He also stressed it’s a very diverse industry but CLIA does the best it can to bring the industry’s common interests together and advocate for the membership. Goldstein cited CLIA’s three critical elements.
Cruise Lines: Since globalization efforts began, cruise line membership has grown from 26 lines to 62 lines, which represents more than 90 percent of the industry’s capacity.
Travel Agents: CLIA has 13,500 travel agency members; Goldstein said it’s the largest travel agency group in the world in any one organization – encompassing 50,000 travel agents of all different types.
“They remain, in many respects, the backbone of our industry, despite the fact that there have been radical changes in the way that people research and think about their cruise vacations,” he stressed “Travel agents still overwhelmingly distribute our cruises to the public.”
Executive Partners: Goldstein also said CLIA’s 275 executive partners (suppliers, destinations and professional service providers) are “absolutely crucial to our welfare…who help us chart the course forward.”
In 2014, CLIA put a lot of work in improving the value proposition for both for travel agent members and executive partners, he said. “And those are two of the reasons we’re so excited about CLIA moving forward.”
The cruise industry overall? How is it doing? “In a couple of words, very well,” he said. “It’s an exciting time.”
One Billion Jobs
Total CLIA global economic impact is estimated at $117 billion and within the next year or so, the international cruise industry will probably reach the the “one-billion jobs” mark.
Goldstein said the number of consumers who have cruised annually has increased by 5 million globally in the past six years, about a 4 percent annual growth from 2014 to 2015.
While more ships create additional capacity, he stressed that “the critical factor is the people also love their cruises” and guest satisfaction is very high.
“Guest satisfaction is the foundation for everything we have achieved or hope to achieve,” he stressed, noting that it gives the lines confidence to invest in new ships.
Six oceangoing and 16 new river cruise ships are launching this year. “Customers are in for a real treat,” Goldstein said, in alluding to the newest onboard features. More than $25 billion in orders for new ships are in the pipeline for now through 2020.
Geographic Diversity
Where are clients cruising from a geographic perspective? Caribbean remains 36 percent of the cruise industry’s overall capacity, compared with 30 to 31 percent in Europe, and 12 percent in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Asia.
He said that as CLIA has grown, so have its responsibilities -- referring to such elements as the environment, safety and security.
“It’s been an interesting time for the industry and CLIA,” he said. “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Christine Duffy for the wonderful leadership that she demonstrated with CLIA for last four years. She really did a great job.”