Royal Caribbean Cruises has reported a “double digit” rise in bookings from the UK during the second financial quarter.
In the quarter which ended June 30, the company earned $472.8 million, up from $466 million in the same period year-on-year.
The company had raised concerns about “inconsistencies” in the UK market in January amid ongoing confusion brought about by Brexit.
But the company’s chief financial officer Jason Liberty said on Thursday (July 25) in a conference call that he was pleased with how the UK market was “shaping up”.
“On the last call we discussed the volatility in demand we received from the UK amid the ongoing Brexit uncertainty,” Liberty said. “Since then we have seen an improvement with bookings from the UK up double digits over the last three months.”
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He added that there was stronger demand from North America for Europe.
“Europe remains our second highest summer season product,” he said. “We are pleased with how things are shaping up.”
Liberty said the effect of the Cuba cruise ban on results has been mitigated in part by demand for Royal Caribbean International’s first private island within its Perfect Day collection – CocoCay in the Bahamas.
Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean International’s president and chief executive, said around 350,000 people have travelled to CocoCay with the line since it opened in May.
“We are genuinely delighted with the performance of Perfect Day,” Bayley said. “I think it is going to be a key driver of our future growth.”
However, he refused to reveal the locations of any future Perfect Day destinations on the call.
Liberty said: “Our cruise products are seeing very strong demand. They are either in line with our expectations or they’re doing better. The two areas that we are seeing do better are the Caribbean and China.”