Cruise operators drive their ships – and millions of dollars – to their private destination full of surfing, beaches, cafes and restaurants.
The phenomenon appears to have started with the Royal Caribbean group, which opened “CocoCay’s Excellent Day” in 2019, a private destination such as a park -like in the Bahama that attracted Wall Street’s eye.
By exploiting their private destination on the small Caribbean islands, Royal Caribbean and other cruise operators, they have rapidly raised income.
“By having their port and not paying for passenger and government taxes, they can make more revenue,” said Bob Levinstein, CEO of Cruise Marketplace cruise.
For example, Royal Caribbean spent $ 250 million to renovate Coca -Cocoa. Since its inauguration in 2019, the company’s costs, including committees, have increased by 34 % while ticket revenue has increased by 43 %.
Now, competitors Carnival Corp and Holdings Line Cruise Line are trying to rebuild this success.
“Royal is currently getting the best returns in all cruise, and their main point is Cocarate and everyone else is trying to get,” said Kent Kohrt.
Cruise companies are sending banner income because the reasonable price of seafood travels for travel in the post -Cave. Royal Caribbean stocks have grown 69 % so far, while Carnival and Norwegian peers are 27 % and 30 %, respectively.
“The great day at CocoCay has been changing the game for both our guests and our business,” said Jason Liberty, CEO of Royal Caribbert.
According to industry experts, cruise companies are bringing the number of passengers to three and four -day programs at a private destination.
Meanwhile, increasing direct reservations to Royal Caribbean allows the commissions, which is about 10 to 20 % of the ticket price.
“Travel representatives are out of the squad,” Scholes said. “Cruise companies are reluctant to acknowledge this because they are still very dependent on travel delegates and do not want to highlight that they see that they have a more direct reservation.”
There are currently 12 private destinations in the Caribbean, including the two in 2024 and 2025.
Carnival plans to invest $ 600 million to develop Celebrati Key, its private destination in the Bahamas Grand.
“If the carnival wants to be half a billion dollars instead of trying to clean the balance sheet or build another ship, it would be very good,” Kouhrat said.
David Bernstein’s CFO Carnival told Reuters that the investment rate for Celebrati Key is similar to the new ships that “high teenagers” with a three -to -four -year repayment period.
Royal Caribbean has three other private destinations that open between 2025 and 2027. The company will cost $ 650 million to develop a private destination in Mahahual, Mexico and $ 165 million in another destination in the Bahamas. The company has not revealed its investment at the third destination in Kozomel Mexico.
In April, Norwegian announced plans to invest $ 150 million to develop new docks on the private island of Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas.
According to travel plans since July 2024, the tourism economy has increased by 41 % to about 10 million passengers compared to last year. The non -private destination of the Caribbean island has increased by 18 % to about 57 million passengers.
However, visits to some public destinations are falling compared to the pre -epidemic, even if the area is expected to view 14.5 million visitors in 2024 in 2024.
According to the Caribbean Tourism Organization, the Cayman Islands from the first half of 2024 compared to 2019, 36 % were observed during cruise visits from the first half of 2024. Some other destinations, including St. Kitz and Nawis, Belize and St. Marton, have been reduced by more than 20 %.
“I don’t think they can provide the same credible experience that guests are still looking for,” Natasha Chalul, marketing director of the British Islands, said. “But it also pushes us to deliver our unique offers.”
Visiting the Bahama, where the main cruise operators are developing or developing, increased by 66.5 percent in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period 2019.
“The consumer has changed,” Liberty told Reuters. “They want to immerse themselves in experience, and as much as we can tell local providers to do it, they also have to raise their game because that’s what customers expect.”
