Report by Jane Archer
ROYAL Caribbean International hosted more than 2000
travel agents on two cruises to nowhere from Southampton to raise the profile
of its new ship, Explorer of the Seas, in the UK trade.
RCI and Celebrity Cruises chairman and chief executive
Richard Fain said 25% of passengers on sister ship Voyager of the Seas,
launched last November, are non-American, and the number of international
passengers is expected to increase again for Explorer.
He added that the largest proportion of international
visitors are from the UK.
“These megaships have big appeal in the UK market, so
it is important to get agents on board to touch and feel the product as that
helps them to sell,” he said.
Fain said the UK passenger
base is small, at 6% of the total 1.7 million passengers in 1999, but growing
rapidly – faster than the US – and far ahead of the rest of Europe.