Royal Caribbean Is Getting Chinese Cruisers Out of China
Photo Credit: Allure of the Seas is shown off Capri in Italy in this promotional photo from Royal Caribbean International. Parent company Royal Caribbean Cruises said more Chinese passengers are taking cruises outside of China. Royal Caribbean International
Skift Take
Royal Caribbean has spent more than a decade in China building a reputation and customer base. Now that work appears to be paying off in a global way.
Even as some cruise lines are making a strategic retreat from China, travelers from the world's largest outbound travel market are exploring more of the globe from a ship.
Royal Caribbean Cruises, which has based ships in China for more than a decade, is seeing "significant growth" in the number of Chinese passengers sailing in locations such as Alaska and Europe.
Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty said during an earnings call Wednesday that 75 percent more Chinese passengers are taking a trip that doesn't include China now compared to three years ago. Cruises in Europe and Alaska, he said, have seen the number of passengers from China more than double.
"Tourism by Chinese outside of China is exploding," Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises, said in an interview Wednesday afternoon. "We are working to take advantage of that. And that program looks like it's successful for us, but it's still very small."
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