Top Headlines

Study finds latent demand for travel, changes in consumer behaviour

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 24 September 2020 24 September 2020

There is latent demand for travel despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, but consumer behaviour is changing and travel companies should employ methods other than asking their customers to find out how to respond to these changes, a study has found.

“Customers are interested in traveling again when restrictions lift, even willing to do so before a vaccine is available at scale. China—which, as of the time of writing, has effectively controlled the spread of the virus—is seeing both the leisure and business travel segments recover domestically,” McKinsey & Company said in a report called “The travel industry upside down: Insights, analysis and actions for travel executives.”

Europe shows encouraging first signs of recovering travel demand, while other geographies, including the United States, have not yet effectively controlled the spread of the virus; even so, there is a considerable increase in searches and advance bookings.

“Travelers are keen to travel but feel restrained. Indeed, due to necessary public-health measures and safety precautions—such as quarantines, closures, and other restrictions—the leisure space may be curbed by the inability to do anything meaningful at a destination,” McKinsey said.

Many business travelers who are ready to fly again may be limited by corporate travel policies and companies’ understandable focus on duty-of-care obligations to employees.

“The working-from-anywhere trend could permanently blur the lines between leisure and business travel. Digital nomads and “bleisure” travel predate COVID-19. However, the pandemic and the rise of remote work seem to accelerate growth of these travel segments,” the report said.

Players across the travel value chain—including destinations, corporate travel managers and hotels —need to think through key implications.

Nonprice factors have become more important to customers. The industry needs to cover other terrain before “demand stimulating” its way out of the crisis and instead restore traveler confidence. The travel industry is only as strong as its weakest link, so customers need to be comfortable with all touchpoints in their journeys.

“Self-reported sentiments may not accurately reflect preferences or behavior, despite being easy to gather, and especially in the depth of a crisis. For this reason, travel companies cannot rely only on stated preferences; they need to improve the way they keep a pulse on travelers’ actions through leading indicators,” McKinsey pointed out.

Roger Frizzell, SVP & Chief Communications Officer at Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group, agreed with the report’s finding about latent demand. “We believe there is pent-up demand to cruise again, especially among loyal cruisers. We also are implementing new health and safety protocol, in close coordination with health authorities and destinations, as well as outside experts, that are among the most robust of any industry,” he told CruiseBusiness.com.

Healthy Sail Panel submits recommendation to US authorities

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 21 September 2020 21 September 2020

New recommendations from a panel of globally recognised medical and scientific experts say that by relentlessly focusing on prevention and other measures – including the testing of guests and crew members – public health risks associated with the pandemic can be mitigated in a cruise ship environment, Royal Caribbean Group said in a statement.

The Healthy Sail Panel that was formed in June by Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd submitted its recommendations today to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in response to a CDC request for public comment that will be used to inform future public health guidance and preventative measures relating to travel on cruise ships.

The Panel comprises globally recognized experts in medical practice and research, public health, infectious diseases, biosecurity, hospitality and maritime operations that have applied the best available public health, science and engineering insights to their recommendations.

The Healthy Sail Panel’s 65-plus-page report includes 74 detailed best practices to protect the public health and safety of guests, crew and the communities where cruise ships call. Recommendations include testing, the use of face coverings, and enhanced sanitation procedures on ships and in terminals. The Panel is chaired by Governor Mike Leavitt, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Healthy Sail Panel Recommendations

“The Healthy Sail Panel spent the last four months studying how to better protect the health and safety of guests and crew aboard cruise ships,” said Dr. Gottlieb. “Taken as a comprehensive approach, we believe the Panel’s robust public health recommendations will help inform strategies for a safe resumption of sailing.”

Gov. Leavitt said: “This Panel undertook an ambitious, cross-disciplinary, public health examination to develop standards and guidelines that create the highest level of safety in the complex environment of a cruise ship. We studied the industry’s experiences combating the pandemic – and we then incorporated the many lessons learned and advances made by medicine and science over the past six months. The Panel’s recommendations are grounded in the best scientific and medical information available and are intended to meaningfully mitigate public health risks to those who sail.”

“We understand our responsibility to act aggressively to protect the health and safety of our guests and crew, as well as the communities where we sail, and we asked the Panel to help us learn how to best live up to that responsibility,” said Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group. “We were inspired by the depth of the Panel’s work and their determination to help us establish the strongest protocols in the travel industry.”

“The Healthy Sail Panel’s recommendations are robust and comprehensive, and they reflect the intense focus the panelists brought to their work,” said Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “We know that both authorities around the globe and consumers expect cruise lines to provide the safest, healthiest vacations we can, and this work demonstrates our commitment to doing just that.”

Fain and Del Rio said each company will use the Panel’s recommendations to inform the development of new, detailed operating protocols, which will be submitted to the CDC and other authorities around the globe for review and approval– an important milestone in the process of resuming sailing around the world. The Panel’s work is open sourced for others to incorporate in their protocols as well; Governor Leavitt and Dr. Gottlieb expressed appreciation that authorities and other cruise companies had already engaged in the Panel’s work as observers.

The Healthy Sail Panel identified five areas of focus every cruise operator should address to improve health and safety for guests and crew, and reduce the risk of infection and spread of COVID-19 on cruise ships:

Testing, Screening and Exposure Reduction

Sanitation and Ventilation

Response, Contingency Planning and Execution

Destination and Excursion Planning

Mitigating Risks for Crew Members

In each category, the Healthy Sail Panel created practical and actionable recommendations to address specific safety concerns. Among the recommendations are key strategies such as:

Taking aggressive measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 from entering a ship through robust education, screening and testing of both crew and guests prior to embarkation

Reducing transmission via air management strategies and enhanced sanitation practices

Implementing detailed plans to address positive infection on board, including contingencies for onboard treatment, isolation and rapid evacuation and repatriation

Closely controlling shore excursions

Enhanced protection for crew members

Costa Diadema returns to cruise service

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 19 September 2020 19 September 2020

Costa Diadema departed from Genoa today. It is the second Costa Cruises ship to return to the sea with revenue passengers. Costa Diadema’s itinerary, which marks the return of Costa’s cruise holidays to Liguria and the Western Mediterranean, only includes calls at Italian ports and is reserved for guests resident in Italy. After Genoa, its next ports of call will be Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia.

“Genoa welcomes with great joy the departure of the first Costa Cruises ship from Liguria. Costa Diadema journey in the Western Mediterranean represents a tangible sign of recovery of one of the fundamental supply chains for the economy of our city. Once again, Genoa will be the home port of many Costa calls, bringing new tourists to discover our city. The future has to be written, but I'm sure we will come back even stronger than before," said Mayor of Genoa, Marco Bucci.

“At last Costa’s cruises are back in Genoa and Liguria, which has been our home for over 70 years. We’re setting sail again gradually and responsibly, with safety protocols that are unrivalled in the tourism industry. The initial response from our guests has been most encouraging,” said Group CEO, Costa Group & Carnival Asia Michael Thamm. “As Europe’s number one cruise company, we have a responsibility to turn this difficult situation into an opportunity to come back stronger than ever, and to continue to develop the tourism and economic ecosystem of the destinations. We want to do it in close cooperation with all our stakeholders and we believe that Liguria has a leading role to play with us in becoming a model for others to follow based on four cornerstones: state-of-the-art infrastructures, like the new passenger terminals in Genoa and La Spezia; sustainable innovation, to improve environmental performance in ports, such as shore power, LNG; improved destination management and tourism development to better respond to the needs of today’s travelers and expand our value creation capabilities; and support to the social needs of the community, for which we are committed through our Costa Crociere Foundation."

Liguria is featuring prominently in Costa’s return to cruising, with a total of around 80 calls in this part of north-west Italy between now and the end of the 2020/21 winter season. From October 10 Savona will be the homeport for the flagship Costa Smeralda, the company’s first vessel powered by LNG (liquefied natural gas), which will be offering one-week cruise holidays in the Western Mediterranean. After a series of cruises intended for the French market, from November Costa Diadema will also be moving to Savona, for 12-night cruises to the Canary Islands and 14-night cruises to Egypt and Greece. Costa Firenze, the new ship under construction at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard, will make it debut on December 27, again sailing in the Western Mediterranean, and calling at Genoa and La Spezia every week. Meanwhile, from October 22 to mid-December La Spezia will see the arrival of AIDAblu, operated by the Costa Group’s German brand AIDA Cruises, on 7-day cruise vacations devoted entirely to Italy. Costa’s cruises sailing on or after September 27 will be available for all European citizens who are residents in any of the countries listed in the most recent Prime Ministerial Decree.

The embarkation of guests on Costa Diadema for today’s first departure from Genova has been carried out in accordance with the procedures set out in the Costa Safety Protocol, which contains new operational measures in response to the COVID-19 situation, dealing with all aspects of the cruise experience both on and off the ship. The procedures, devised with the support of independent public health experts, are in line with – and in some cases even stricter than – the health protocols defined by the relevant Italian and European authorities. On arrival at the Stazione Marittima in Genoa, with staggered entrance times by virtue of online check-in, each guest had their temperature scanned, submitted a health questionnaire and was subjected to an antigen rapid swab test, with the possibility of an additional molecular swab test for any suspected cases. Prior to embarking, crew members were also subjected to a molecular swab test at intervals and were quarantined for 14 days. In addition, each member of crew will have a monthly test.

Starting with the first call at Civitavecchia/Rome, the destinations on Costa Diadema’s itinerary can be visited only by joining the protected excursions organized by the company for small groups of people on sanitized means of transport, and subject to temperature measurement before leaving and rejoining the ship. The shipboard amenities and entertainment have been redesigned based on the procedures in the Safety Protocol but still retain the distinguishing features of a Costa cruise holiday, thanks partly to the physical distancing enabled by the ship’s reduced capacity. For example: repeat performances of the live shows for smaller audiences; a switch from buffet restaurants to seated dining; reduced capacity and minimum distance between tables in the theater, show lounge, bars and restaurants; staggered entrance for some facilities such as the spa, pools and kids’ miniclub with a limited number of people allowed in at any one time. Also, there is enhanced cleaning and sanitization in all areas on board, including cabins, while the shipboard health services have been expanded. Other health & safety measures are the use of face masks whenever necessary, hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the ship and the introduction of self-service clinical thermometer kiosks.

Carnival group aims at staggered resumption of services – Donald

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 18 September 2020 18 September 2020

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group, plans to continue the resumption of its services in a staggered manner, President and CEO Arnold Donald said in an interview.

Costa Crociere, the group’s Italian unit and AIDA Cruises in Germany are leading the process.

Looking forward, Donald said in a webcast interview by Travel Weekly in the UK that brands such as Holland America Line and Princess Cruises could restart operations either in the US or in another part of the world, depending on how the pandemic situation evolves.

The group has developed a number of scenarios that it will use in evaluating the next steps in the service restart process. In all of them, public health, compliance with local regulations and health and safety of passengers and crew are top priorities, he pointed out.

Moving to the group’s decision to increase the number of older ships it wants to remove from its fleet to 18, double the number first intended, Donald said before the Covid-19 pandemic, these ships had generated revenue.

In the present situation they do not, but incur significant expenses instead. As their earnings potential is lower than that of more efficient ships, the present crisis just accelerated their departure that would have happened in the near future anyway.

P&O Cruises extends standstill until early 2021

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 17 September 2020 17 September 2020

P&O Cruises, which is part of Carnival Corporation & plc, said it would extend pause in operations, with all sailings cancelled until early 2021.

Previously, the company had cancelled all departures up to 12 November plus some long cruises with departure date after that.

All Caribbean cruises are cancelled until the end of January 2021 and all cruises from and to Southampton are cancelled through February as well, the company said in a statement. Spring world cruises of Arcadia and Aurora had already bee cancelled earlier.

P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said: “With evolving restrictions on travel from the UK, unfortunately it is necessary to cancel these itineraries. These further cancellations vary according to ship as well as complexity and length of itineraries, advice and guidance regarding ports of call and current air availability for fly/cruises.”

“We are continuing to monitor the overall situation closely and will certainly reintroduce cruises should the opportunity arise and it is feasible to do so.”

Ludlow confirmed that the company is working with several of the “most brilliant minds in science as well as government at the highest level” on the approved and enhanced health protocols, which will be in place once the company resumes sailing.

He continued: “Whilst adherence to the protocols on board and ongoing vigilance will be critical, this will always be coupled with providing the well-deserved and memorable holidays for which we are known, with all the standout moments on board and experiences on shore. This is what we have always done and will continue to do.”

Ludlow concluded on an optimistic note saying: “We cannot wait for restrictions to ease, borders to open and for us to once again be able to set sail for a new beginning.”