Royal Caribbean will be taking part in the Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum, scheduled to take place 21-22 June 2011 at the Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens. In preparation for the event, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President Craig Milan spoke a little about the company's view on the Eastern Mediterannean region.
“The Eastern Mediterranean has become increasingly popular for all three of RCI’s brands, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara, prior to the political upheaval in many of the countries of North Africa this year, and we had been shifting more capacity to the region. However, these events have impacted on the demand for all sailings in the East Mediterranean, not only those which had scheduled calls in Egypt. We are hopeful that the demand improves as we move into 2012 and as such, we did not proceed with any changes in our planning for the next season. Looking towards the future, we have seen opportunity to develop some of the newer and smaller ports to enhance our itineraries in this area, especially in connection with the overcrowding that we are experiencing in Santorini and Mykonos. "
"The Black Sea is also interesting and we see opportunities for growth. Azamara at present has a limited number of sailings which are doing well. We would like to add some sailings for Royal and or Celebrity for 2013.”
Royal Caribbean Vice President John Tercek also commented by adding, "As we move forward, we are also keen to develop source markets for our products, with Greece and Turkey playing a leading role as operational hubs”.
