By
Michele Witthaus |
Panelists in the opening session of the Seatrade Europe conference in Hamburg paid tribute to the technical accomplishments seen in last week’s successful righting of the Costa Concordia in Italy and discussed the potential for the industry going forward. There was general agreement that the cruise industry in Europe was showing signs of improvement as the continent recovers from the downturn.
In his opening address, president of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Europe and of Silversea, Manfredi Lefebvre D'Ovidio, said: “The cruise industry has been growing very healthily in Europe, providing over 325,000 thousand direct jobs.” Germany was an important part of this growth, experiencing an unprecedented cruise boom to become the second source market in Europe in direct spending terms, he remarked. “We can expect this trend to continue,” he said, adding that shipbuilding was also doing well. “Six new cruise ships will be built by 2016 in Germany.” He said the recent establishment of CLIA Germany would improve the ability of the country’s cruise business to address common threats and challenges.
Cruise industry actions are inextricably linked at the local, regional and global levels, especially where the environment is concerned, said Michael Ungerer, president of AIDA Cruises and chairman of CLIA Germany. “In addressing the issue of sustainable growth, environmental stewardship is critical and the cruise industry is on track to meet IMO targets... Cruise ships today consume up to 70 per cent less fuel per passenger than a decade ago.” However, he called for “a more balanced transition” to cleaner fuels. “It is impossible to switch the entire industry to low-sulphur marine diesel overnight; there is simply not enough available.”
President and CEO of CLIA, Christine Duffy, said: “This is really an exciting phase of opportunity and growth in the industry. We have a record number of passengers, launches and building of new ships, and in 2013 we are working to exceed 21 million cruise passengers.
“There has been an investment of billions and expansion into new markets, with significant opportunities and the toughest challenges that require us to think and act as a global industry. Our stakeholders and customers come from everywhere and our industry crosses borders.” The bringing together of ten cruise associations in December 2012 enabled the industry to unite in response to greater scrutiny and responsibility, said Duffy. “We are working to establish CLIA Spain and CLIA Italy very soon,” she said.
Pierfrancesco Vago, CEO, MSC Cruises, said things were looking brighter across Europe and dubbed Germany “the locomotive of growth in European cruise.” He commented: “Markets have recovered their integrity in the Eurozone and although we don’t see much money from the consumer yet, confidence is gaining momentum, resulting in a steady market. France has shown nine per cent growth and Spain and Italy are coming back.” Vago also pointed out that although the number of ships on order has remained lower than in the past, the ships currently on order are much bigger than in years gone by, representing a total of 60,000 lower berths.
Cruise penetration in Europe is still at a very low rate compared to the rest of the world, said Dominic Paul, vice president and group MD, EMEA for Royal Caribbean International. “The long-term growth potential out of Europe is phenomenal and we see significant potential for our brands. Although we have moved three ships out of Europe to Asia, we still have sixteen ships in Europe.”
Referring to the booming German cruise sector, Richard Vogel, CEO of TUI Cruises, said: “Compared to other established markets, we have started very late and have become an important market within ten years. This happened because of tailor-made products for German guests.” He said that whereas in 1996 two thirds of cruises from Germany were with foreign brands, two thirds of the 1.5million German guests in 2012 chose German products.