Clia’s chair has warned the industry against heavy discounting in 2024 as the largest land-based operators continue to increase their Atol licences.
Speaking to delegates at the Clia winter forum on December 19, Ben Bouldin praised the performance of the cruise sector over the year, saying 2023 will be remembered for the industry’s “triumphant return” following the pandemic.
Bouldin, who is also Royal Caribbean vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, hailed the success of both the trade and cruise lines for fulfilling the “bold forecasts” Clia predicted at the start of the year, saying Covid is now “in the rear-view mirror”.
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However, he urged delegates to “close the gap” between land-based and cruise holidays as land-based operators increase their capacity for 2024.
“Confidence in the travel industry is getting better all the time and the optics of our industry are exceptionally positive and incredibly strong for next year,” he said.
“We’ve seen some big land-based operators extend their Atol provision for 2024, particularly from Jet2, Tui and easyJet which means they are all confident they’ll have a knockout 2024.
“There will be more capacity in land-based holidays than any year before and, coupled with the increase in cruise capacity, there are an awful lot of holidays to sell on a macro scale.
“We need to close the gap between cruise and land and ensure that the inherent value of a cruise comes through. We don’t want a bloodbath on pricing as we get into peaks next year – we need to kick off in January talking about the value cruise offers guests.”
Bouldin went on to say the US cruise market in cruise has performed “extraordinarily well” in the past year, putting pressure on the UK to keep up.
He described cruise as the “hottest holiday ticket in town” and encouraged agents to continue the momentum built in 2023, saying the majority of all cruises sold in the UK comes through the trade.
“There is an ever-increasing number of US passengers looking to sail and the propensity to cruise in the US has never been higher which puts pressure on us to make sure we keep pace, although we do have a different economic backdrop,” he said.
“We’ve got the momentum behind us, demand for cruising is at an all-time high. We’ve weathered a lot, we’ve come out fighting and we’re starting to see the rewards of all our hard work.”
He added: “There will be other speed bumps to get over but we will achieve all our goals.”