Future of the Cruise Industry
Alexa Foodim ‘23
When life as we knew it stopped in March 2020, one of the most hard-hit industries was the cruise industry. The cruise industry employs 254,000 Americans USA Today reports that the total industry lost $32 billion.
As the world begins to reopen, there are many unknowns in how to reopen the cruise industry safely, causing a rift between the CDC and cruise lines. Despite decreasing case numbers and the vaccine rollout, the CDC has recommended not to travel on cruises even though they determined travel to be a low-risk activity for fully vaccinated individuals. An executive at Carnival Cruise Lines explained that “we’d just like to be treated similar to the rest of the travel and entertainment and tourism sector.” Carnival Cruise Lines reported a $10.24 billion loss for the year of 2020 and shares still remain under pre- Pandemic levels.
Royal Caribbean, another popular cruise company, anticipated a reopening on June 1st. However, it’s reopening has been postponed due to the course of the virus. Norwegian Cruise Lines, a key player in the industry, decided to require all passengers and crew to be fully vaccinated. The company is planning on starting cruises on July 4th and is still waiting for approval from health officials.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. remains optimistic for a summer reopen as investors question the different timelines from all parties involved Travelers are ready to set sail and Carnival reported that their booking volumes were 90% higher in the first quarter of 2021 than the fourth quarter in 2020. Analysts are expecting demand for cruises to increase rapidly until 2022.
The future of the tourism industry is unknown, especially cruises. The vaccine rollout as well as the variants of COVID-19 will be key in determining when Americans can say “bon voyage!”
Sources:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/norwegian-asks-cdc-to-allow-u-s-cruises-from-july-4-11617631218