The new Clia chair says 2022 will be “one of the most defining years” the industry has ever had as he urged the sector to get ready for the “vast” opportunity at the trade association’s Selling Cruise Day.
In a wide-ranging keynote speech that addressed many challenges facing cruise, Ben Bouldin, Royal Caribbean Cruises’ vice president, appealed to the sector to work cohesively.
He hailed the efforts of leading industry figures – including Carnival UK chairman David Dingle, Clia UK and Ireland managing director Andy Harmer and former Clia chair and Princess Cruises’ vice president for the UK and Ireland Tony Roberts – for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bouldin said 16 ocean ships and 10 river vessels are slated to come into service next year.
He said: “We’re about to embark on what I believe is going to be one of the most defining years the cruise industry has ever had. The capacity is significantly higher than what we had in 2019.
“The opportunity for 2022 is vast and we’re going to have pull together to make it happen.”
Bouldin, who was appointed as Clia chair in June, said it was going to be “a long journey” before the sector had completely emerged from the pandemic.
Citing 43% fewer travel agencies on the high street versus 2019, Bouldin encouraged retail outlets and the high street to “bounce back”.
He added the pandemic had had “the most significant impact” on the trade that it would ever experience, partly in the form of job losses and some agents being forced to find secondary careers to earn a living.
“I equally hope that those people will come back to travel and recognise that travel is and will be once again the great industry it was,” Bouldin said, describing the impact on agents as “mind-boggling”.
“We need to start thinking positively about the year ahead. We cannot continue to run our call centres on reduced hours with not enough people to answer our phones.”
He urged agency businesses and cruise lines to prepare call centres for the “influx” of calls coming in. “There’s a massive education job to do,” he added. “Many of you will understand the cruise sector well…but there are so many agents out there who have not had the experience of our systems.
“We all know that seeing a ship is what makes the difference and frankly a day visit does not cut it. Seeing a ship in the day is like seeing it with its lights off.”
In his Clia role, Bouldin pledged to “double” the number of agent members in the association. “We need to make sure that we have agents supporting the cruise industry day after day,” he said. “It’s a big opportunity and we have to be ready.”
He also appealed to operators that are not part of Clia’s ranks to join the cruise body and “be part of that unified action” on improving the industry’s carbon footprint.
“China, Brazil and Russia may not be there [at Cop26] but I can assure you that the UK travel industry will not be missing in action when it comes to tackling climate change,” he added. “
“People will be much more conscious moving forward. We need to wake up and smell the coffee. As an industry we might not be whiter than white, but we do a huge amount to improve our footprint and we’ll continue to do so.”