MSC Cruises sales chief urges UK trade to increase North America focus

MSC Cruises’ vice-president of international sales has encouraged UK agents to increase their focus on sailings from North America as he tipped significant growth in the market in the next three years.

 

Speaking to Travel Weekly on the inaugural sailing of MSC World America, Antonio Paradiso urged the trade to use the launch of the 6,762-passenger ship – the second in the line’s World Class – as an opportunity to boost ex-US sales while continuing their strong Mediterranean performance.

 

“Agents have done a remarkable job in selling ex-UK sailings in the Med; my message now is for them to fully experience MSC Cruises in this part of the world too – I’m talking about sailings from Miami, Port Canaveral, New York, Seattle and Galveston,” he said.

 

“We have more ships in Europe than any other brand but we don’t just stand for Mediterranean or Northern Europe, we are much more than that now.”

 

He added: “The biggest growth for the next two to three years is going to be in North America. There are endless opportunities from all major ports in the US and this ship [World America] will be the catalyst.”

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More: MSC Cruises opens world’s largest cruise terminal in Miami

 

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Paradiso stressed there have been no issues surrounding ex-UK capacity this year, in response to reports from some agents that availability across the sector was tight.

 

“It has never really been the case – yes, we are better sold because we’ve had a good start to the year – but we have a ship sailing out of Southampton every week of the year and, if you look at what’s available, there’s still some decent space,” he said.

 

“The only tweak I’ve made year on year is reducing the number of mini cruises from Southampton due to changing consumer habits. Only three years ago these were the most popular choice but trends change quickly, and now the desired length is seven days.”

 

He reported a 20% year-on-year increase in bookings from the UK market for 2025 and a 30% rise in transactions, which covers bookings for 2025, 2026 and 2027.

 

He attributed this to a “very strong January and February”, which was followed by a “slightly quieter” March, as well as continued support from the trade.

 

“The growth we’re witnessing has been fuelled by the trade community; we are an extremely trade-friendly brand and we have built our fortunes together working hand in hand,” he said.

 

Growth targets for 2026 will be set at a budget meeting due to take place in three months, said Paradiso, who added: “If this momentum continues, there will be some very high expectations for next year.”

 

In response to reports of a softening US market among some quarters of the wider travel industry, following the appointment of Donald Trump as president, Paradiso said MSC Cruises had not experienced a dip in sales from the UK to the US or vice versa.

 

“If we look at figures from the US market, they’re actually going up,” he said.

 

“I think that’s the partly the result of the significant investments we’ve made in the US, for example our commercial with Drew Barrymore [World America’s godmother] and Orlando Bloom, which went live during the Super Bowl.”

 

Paradiso said he had “expected a couple of rough days from the UK market to the US [following Trump’s appointment]” but stressed: “I haven’t seen it.”

 

“Yes, there were a couple of weeks where I think there was some uncertainty around bookings, but once we got past that and are now approaching the Easter break, people – and in particular families – are saying, ‘Que será, será, let’s book’,” he added.

 

“We’re in a different space in cruise as our ships are moving assets, so people are basically coming here for the point of embarkation and then going straight to the Caribbean. It’s not much of a consideration for them.”

 

“The response from the UK market has been overwhelming and we don’t want that to stop,” he said.

 

While acknowledging a rise in prices across the fleet, Paradiso did not believe this would dampen demand as “the value of cruising is also increasing as each and every cruise line is making significant investments”.

 

Instead, he said the biggest challenge that the line – and the overall cruise sector – must overcome is its bid to become carbon neutral.

 

He called on more ports in Europe to offer shore power connectivity to enable ships to reduce emissions when they are docked, pointing to MSC Cruises’ new Miami terminal which boasts this capability.

 

“The challenge, and also the opportunity, is getting more ports to step up their game and offer this service [shore power connectivity],” he said.

 

“Across Europe there are only 16 ports that can provide it which is not enough. Our ships are providing the latest and best available technology and we need ports to do the same.”

 

But despite this he said he was feeling “very optimistic” about the sector achieving its carbon neutral goals.

 

“What we’ve done in the past five years in cutting emissions is nothing short of a miracle,” he added. “We’ve gone from zero to hero a short period of time, so if we keep up this pace, hopefully we can hit our targets.”