Speaking at the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) outlook forum, Royal Caribbean's President and CEO, Michael Bayley, predicted that its Caribbean cruise tourism business will grow by 50 percent by 2030.
Mr. Bayley sees continuing growth in the Caribbean, with 8 out of the top 10 cruise destinations worldwide are in the Caribbean, and that more cruise passengers will be coming to the Caribbean in the future.
“The Caribbean was, is, will always be, the number one cruise destination in the world,” Bayley told the gathering of ministers, chief executives, policymakers and other senior Caribbean tourism professionals at the gathering in Antigua and Barbuda.
“There are considerations that we need to take into account in terms of some of the destinations’ ability to absorb the growth that is coming – in some places the growth is perhaps already at a critical mass – but we need to find a way to accommodate the growth that is inevitably coming to cruise tourism in the Caribbean,” he stressed.
Bayley touted the success of Perfect Day at CocoCay, citing it as an example of collaboration that benefits both the destination and the cruise line.
“There is a lot of demand for these products and if we can figure out how to collaborate together to create these experiences, they don’t always have to have this shape and form, they can be other types of experiences”.
“As we evolve in terms of our ship design and experiences and what we are creating for our customers we really believe there is a huge opportunity to take all that knowledge…and transfer it into the destinations in a very meaningful way,” he added.
