Page 10: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1997)

MARINE FINANCE

Cruising's Top Players Link Up For Marketplace Discussion by Bridget Murphy, senior editor

It has been said that the French debate with their hearts and vote with their wallets, and according to Cruise Lines

International Association (CLIA)

Chairman and Princess Cruises executive Rick James, that same pragmatism holds true for cruise investors, who "have taken a look at the industry and voted with their wallets."

Equally bullish statements domi- nated the state of the indusj, debate at the annual cruise^nip- ping show held recently, in Miami — a scene comparajaie to college basketball's March Madness in the

U.S., whea-STew big teams domi- nate the spotlight as other com- petitors scrap for a "Final Four" bid among powerhouses.

It is with little question that

Carnival can claim bragging rights s£or the best performance in FY96, dining which time it sealed a part- nership with Airtours, introduced and booked to capacity the world's largest passenger ship, announced plans for an Asiaq. sister company and beat out the competition by successfully negotiating the .acqui- sition of an additional fleet of ships based in Italy.

Flushed with personal success from a literary co-authors] which produced title Selling* the

Seas, Carnival President Bob

Dickinson's delivery-m the show was dynamic: "Jitisiness is fabu- ere lous. In the qa^e of Carnival, we've made trprfiendous strides this year." Jfe said that Carnival's 1996 initiatives were structured around

Providing passengers with variety and a casual atmosphere, or "cruis- ing their way," explaining, "We're not trying to be a country club at sea."

While sharing Dickinson's favorable outlook, Royal Caribbean

CEO Richard Fain injected cau- tion into the debate, which seemed appropriate since despite solid bookings and the debut of new ton- nage last year, Royal Caribbean was forced to jump hurdles as highly publicized negotiations with

Costa Crociere fell flat and serii environmental violations brought to light.

Fain discussed tht^rowing spe- cialization of ship£ as well as the need to uprferstand passenger demographics. He characterized dse audience as subsets of lopie with fundamentally differ- ent needs and explained the rebranding of^s company to

Royal Caribbean International as a way of stressing the provision of vacation services, not just acruise product. In terms of growing buSis^ 1 ness across the board, Fain said that CLIA's $8 million generic ad campaign is not a panacea for expansion, and warned, "There is no silver bullet; there is no magic solution."

For his part, P&O and Princess

Cruises CEO Tim Harris minced no words in a discussion of two issues shaping the business future of the sector: consolidation and globalization. "I think the major

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North American lines are well positioned.M grow internationally," said the cruise executive.

Harris said that the success of globalization or "internationaliza- tion" will be measured by how readily the North American prod- uct can be transplanted into differ- ent markets, provided the cruise lines accommodate the business climates and cultures of Europe and Asia. "If you're talking about local markets for non-Americans you have to be very careful," advised Harris, adding, "If we can generate the growth in these mar- kets, it will be good for all of us."

Holland America Line-Westours (HAL) veteran Chairman and new

CEO Kirk Lanterman spoke of !tlje constantly shifting nature of the'+usiness by referencing ex-

Cunard--chief Peter Ward's asser- tion 12 months ago that the indus- try 'needed to grow up'. Money, time and energy directed at improving U.S. Coast Guard rela- tions and the protocol surrounding crew training and safety and envi- ronmental requirements in 1996 evidence the industry's matura- tion, according to Lanterman.

He said improved onboard prod- ucts and cruise/ship management were also key factors in 1996. "I think '97 fdr the industry and major player^ will be better than '96," stated the HAL exec, pointing to fleet renewal schemes as a method of catapultin^cruising into the mainstream. \

Steering away from discussing

Kvaerner's rumored intentions to dump Cunard, freshman cruise

CEO Antti Pankakoski spoke about attracting firstjtime passen- gers and debunking mispercep- tions about cruising. "We are obvi- ously here to make money and we can only do thyf if we have happy customers and enough customers," said Pankakoski. The Cunard exec sai lines should "saturate the market- place with the unbea of a cruise vacatioi . cruising should be n id that cruise able benefits and that ade relevant for new market segm ints by track- ing passenger lifesty es and offer- ing theme cruises, family cruises and adventure cruises\ (continued on page 104) 10 Circle 229 on Reader Service Card