News

TUI AG to order third expedition ship for Hapag-Lloyd

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 10 May 2018 10 May 2018

The supervisory and executive boards of TUI AG, the German travel company that is listed in London, gave the green light for the construction of a third expedition cruise ship for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises on Tuesday.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will shortly launch the planning and negotiation process for a further Hanseatic class ship, the company said in a statement.

“This market is growing strongly. Thanks to its experience, competence and high quality standards, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises offers great potential to attract new international customer groups and deliver stronger growth in the expedition cruise segment,” said Fritz Joussen, CEO, said in the statement.

The compay currently has two expedition ships of 15,650 gross tons and 230 passenger capacity each on order at Vard in Norway. Both are due to enter service in 2019.

TUI reports strong demand as cruise revenues, EBITDA increase

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 09 May 2018 09 May 2018

TUI AG, the German travel company which is listed in London, has reported strong demand for all its three cruise brands and highe revenues plus EBITDA.

In the second quarter of its financial year to the end of March, cruise revenues rose to €203.3 million from €194.0 million, while EBITDA increased to €54.9 million from €46.9 million.

In the first six months of the financial year, cruise revenues rose to €395.6 million from €345.9 million and EBITDA to €92.4 million from €75.0 million.

TUI Cruises obtained an average daily rate per passenger of €147, which was 2% lower than in the same period last year, but came against a 21.8% rise in the number of passenger days, to 1.25 million.

Marella Cruises in the UK obtained an average rate of €143, which was 9.2% more than year on, but the number of passenger days decreased by 0.6%, to 558,800. Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten enjoyed a 3.2% rise in the average daily rare, which reached €653 as the number of passenger days rose by 4.0% to 92,900.

“Demand for our cruises remains strong, with higher yields year on year for the periods currently on sale in all three brands. In Marella, Majesty exited the fleet in November 2017 and Spirit will exit in November 2018, and from Summer 2019 the entire fleet will be fully all-inclusive,” the company said in a statement.

Celestyal Cruises appoints Chris Theophilides as new CEO to succeed Kyriakos Anastassiades

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 07 May 2018 07 May 2018

Celestyal Cruises today announced that Kyriakos Anastassiadis will conclude his term as CEO of the company on June 30, 2018. Anastassiadis contributed to the company’s strategic repositioning as well as to the development and strengthening of the Celestyal Cruises brand internationally. From his position as Chair of CLIA Europe, a role he has served in since late 2016, he assiduously promoted the cruise industry agenda.

Celestyal Cruises would like to thank Anastassiadis for his contribution to the development of Celestyal Cruises and wishes him good health and success in his future endeavors.

Celestyal Cruises appoints Chris Theophilides to the position of CEO of Celestyal Cruises, as of July 1, 2018. Theophilides has been working in the cruise industry since 2006 and has held the position of Vice President of Strategy and Business Development of Celestyal Cruises since October 2014. Most recently, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the company in January 2017, supporting the CEO in a wide range of cross-functional activities.

Theophilides graduated from Rutgers University, New Jersey in 1995, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He continued his studies at the same institution to attain a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) in 1997. From 1998 to 2006, he served as Senior Manager, Corporate Finance at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he qualified as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).