Skift Take
With a huge TV marketing push and new land products in the Middle East and Caribbean, MSC Cruises is finding success by doubling down on its distinctly European brand identity.
One of the world's fastest growing cruise lines is steadily building its presence in North America, and wants to make sure U.S. consumers know they can take a European-style cruise without flying to Europe.
MSC Cruises, known for its strength in Europe and South America, began a push into North American markets when it sent the MSC Divina to the Caribbean in late 2013.
Since then, it has invested in a private island in the Caribbean and brought another ship, the MSC Opera, to homeport in Cuba. It'll also operate the MSC Armonia out of Havana later this year.
MSC Cruises' plans for the future, however, are even more ambitious. MSC Cruises will operate a private island in Abu Dhabi this year, looking to provide a wider range of vacation options in the Middle East. It also has 11 more ships in its pipeline, which will bring its fleet up to 23 ships by 2026.
Rick Sasso, a longtime cruise industry veteran and president of MSC Cruises USA, thinks that European-tinged service and amenities provide a refreshing alternative to the generic megaships of the company's North American competitors.
Sasso sat down with Skift to discuss the company's growth strategy in the Caribbean, the cruise line's new focus on private island destinations, and why China represents unlimited opportunity for the cruise industry.
Skift: MSC Cruises ramped up its presence in North America a few years ago. Why expand when your success has mainly taken place in Europe, and how has the process of courting the American cruiser gone?
Sasso: Well, it was always in the strategic plan that North America would become a more significant piece of our globalization, but we've been very patient about
