Royal Caribbean Group has praised the performance of the trade in the second quarter of the year, as agents made more bookings than they did in the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.
Speaking during a quarterly financial results call on Thursday (July 27), group president Jason Liberty hailed the company’s success over the past three months, as the cruising giant reported a record $3.5 billion total revenue.
Liberty said the group’s performance was “better than expected”, which he attributed in part to the trade’s performance.
“Our travel partners are now fully back up and running and delivering more bookings than they did in 2019,” he said.
“In the second quarter, the percent of guests who were either new-to-brand or new-t0-cruise surpassed 2019 levels by a wide margin and we have seen post-cruise repeat booking rates nearly double 2019 levels.
“Cruising remains an exceptional value proposition, allowing us to outperform broader leisure travel as we seek to further close the gap to land-based vacations, drive better revenue and welcome even more happy customers.”
More: Royal Caribbean Group reports ‘record’ total revenue for second quarter
Utopia of the Seas will combine ‘best of the best’, says Royal Caribbean