08 February 2010

India next for Carnival Corp?

Historic links between the P&O Cruises brand and India could make it the perfect vehicle for expansion by parent company Carnival Corporation into the country.

The prospect of an Indian cruise venture - potentially similar to the P&O Cruises Australia offshoot - was raised by the global cruise giant's chairman and CEO Micky Arison.

Speaking to TravelMole in an exclusive video interview, he pointed out that no decisions had yet been made on establishing a cruise business dedicated to the burgeoning Indian leisure travel sector.

However, Arison said: "I do think that India is a potentially good market for cruising down the road.

"The P&O brand would be a very good brand to consider. It's very well established. When we look to that market, P&O would be the frontrunner to do that. Knowing the strength of the brand in India, it would be the logical choice.

Arison added: "I really believe that this [cruising] is a vacation for everybody, whether folks are Italian, English, Russian, American or Chinese.

"If you are giving them great value, great food, great service, great entertainment, that's what they're looking for on holiday.

"There's no reason why this isn't a holiday for every nationality and every place in the globe. It has truly become a global business and that's why I think that as the global economy improves, the future is very bright."

He also revealed that a long-awaited announcement on a new 113,OOO/114,OOO-ton ship with 1,7OO/1,8OO cabins for Princess Cruises - marginally larger than Ruby Princess - was now only weeks away.

"Our focus is on getting capacity for Princess, that is our number one priority," Arison said. "We will be in a position to announce something relatively soon.

"We did a deal for Carnival Cruise Lines last month for a very attractive price and I think we are closer with Princess."

This comes on the back of the company taking on six new ships in 2O1O, four of which are for European brands, such as Azura for P&O Cruises and Queen Elizabeth for Cunard.

Having built the market leading position of the corporation's European brands, Arison spoke of a "more normalised" growth rate.

Two to three new ships would be more likely in 2O12/13.

Speaking about the UK, Arison said: "We will be very visible in this market. Clearly the UK is a critical market for us. We have two of the most powerful brands in the UK and we are going to want to leverage that.

"It's a market that brings very significant numbers of passengers."

*Click on the video interview link to hear Micky Arison's views on travel agents and the impact of new technology.