Partnering with destinations Carnival Corporation’s Michel Nestour tells Alex Smith why the group believes port development and partnerships will play a crucial role in the long-term success of the cruise industry Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise company in the world, is responsible for a fleet of over 90 ships and a portfolio of nine leading cruise line brands. In 2019, those ships sailed to over 700 ports around the world, with almost 13 million guests enjoying the experience of a cruise vacation. With so many ships and so many wonderful destinations available, choosing where to go next is a far from an easy task. Supporting Carnival Corporation’s brands in managing this complexity is its global port and destination development team. Michel Nestour, vice president of global ports and destinations for the EuroMed region at Carnival Corporation, and managing director of Barcelona Cruise Terminal and Santa Cruz Terminal, explains the role of the team within the cruise company. “What we do is manage the port and destination strategic needs of Carnival Corporation and its brands, in addition to seeking new opportunities,” he says. “When we identify a strategic need or new opportunity, we discuss it internally with our cruise line brands. My job is to enable the development and execution of such opportunities across Europe and the Middle East. This supports the development of new destinations and itinerary options to create exciting and compelling cruises for our guests.” Carnival Corporation’s involvement in ports and destinations is founded on a belief that investing and partnering with destinations is crucial to the long-term success and popularity of its cruise business. “We are not in the port business for the sake of it, nor as a collector of cruise ports because we only see limited synergy and value in such an approach,” says Nestour. “There is mutual benefit for a destination to partner with us and for our cruise line brands to bring cruise guests to its ports, cities or islands. What we seek with our investments is berthing rights to give us long-term confidence that our cruise ships can deploy from that specific port, as well as to ensure that facilities are kept up to date for our newest ships.” Destinations are exciting and important parts of any cruise, and many guests heavily factor the opportunity to explore new places into their choice of voyage to create memories of a lifetime. Nestour is excited by how receptive cruise guests are to these new experiences, which gives KEYNOTE 8
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