The reduction in capacity in the holiday market following the failure of the XL Leisure Group could lead to customers turning to cruise, Carnival UK chief executive David Dingle has said.
The XL Leisure Group collapsed on Friday, taking 2.3 million passengers out of the market – representing a market capacity reduction of between 7% and 10%.
Dingle said: “There is a huge amount of capacity coming out of the market. Some of these customers are not our price bracket, however customers can dial themselves up and down our range.”
The cruise market has some “recession resilience” as its core market is more mature people who might not be burdened by mortgage committments or job instability.
“We could even be a beneficiary of a recession as people still want a good holiday at the best value they can get,” he added.
Holidaymakers are leaving it later to book but prices are still holding up, he said. “Customers might wait to book but the fares are stronger than you might expect. We’re confident people will continue to travel.”