Yields in the cruise industry could fall in the future due to the huge orderbook of newbuildings, MSC Cruises’ CEO Gianni Onorato was reported as saying.

Asked whether occupancy levels were at risk of falling from so much growth, chief executive Gianni Onorato was cited by Travel Weekly in the UK telling delegates at the ITT Conference in Sicily: “No, we are not crazy. But in difficult times it can have an impact on yields more than occupancy. So I think this will be more of an issue than occupancy levels.”

He said that the UK market, which recorded a growth of less than 1% to 1.96 million passengers last year, had staged the weak performance due to lack of capacity, but the outlook for the future was better.

Onorato noted that the biggest challenge facing cruise lines was future proofing ships. “Knowing what guests want in 2040 when you’re building them now is very difficult to predict so we need to have a flexible mindset and be able to follow guests’ needs (in terms of technology) but at the same time maintain human contact,” Onorato was quoted as saying.