Tag Archives: UK market

Modest Growth Forecast for UK Market

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Celebrity cruise in Southampton photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

The UK market has had to absorb additional capacity amounting to 316,000 more passengers, coming out of the pandemic in 2022 and 2023, according to the 2023 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.

The capacity growth was driven by P&O Cruises’ introducing two new ships in short order, the Iona and Arvia, boosting the brand’s capacity from just short of 550,000 in 2019, the last typical operating year, to nearly 800,000 in 2023.

The other major operator in the UK market is Marella Cruises, which will see its capacity grow from approximately 407,000 in 2023 to 440,000 by 2024. It remains at that level, barring any more ship introductions, and maintaining its position as the second-largest brand in the UK.

Thus, the national cruise supply is forecast to see little growth from 2023 to 2029, only increasing from approximately 1.6 million to 1.8 million passengers over the time period.

The P&O and Marella brands typically target different market segments, with P&O in the premium segment and Marella in the more price-conscious so-called budget segment.

Cunard Line is also based in Britain, but also markets its capacity in other countries, such as the United States, Australia, Germany and Japan.

Other more typical British brands include Fred. Olsen, Saga and newcomer Ambassador Cruises, with the latter taking up the slack where Cruise and Maritime have been.

As the second largest national cruise market in Europe, Princess and MSC also have ships dedicated to the UK market and other European and North American cruise lines market.

MSC Cruise will Deploy the MSC Virtuosa all year around 22/23 seasons.

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MSC Virtuosa in Rotterdam photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

MSC Cruises has confirmed MSC Virtuosa will offer ex-UK cruises out of Southampton for winter 2022/23 and summer 2023.

This will be the first time the line has continuously operated one of its vessels from the UK year-round.

Virtuosa – which launched in 2021 and became the first ship to restart UK cruises in May of the same year – will now replace MSC Preziosa’s itineraries this winter offering the newly introduced Northern Pearls itinerary.

 
Antonio Paradiso, managing director of UK and Ireland of MSC Cruises, said since Virtuosa first came to the UK, the feedback from the company’s guests has been “incredible” and the ship has been a “huge hit”.

“The increased appetite for stress-free no-fly cruises out of the UK combined with the benefits of the new state-of-the-art Horizon Terminal has resulted in huge demand,” he added.

“The continued deployment of one of our newest and most innovative ships out of the UK is just further proof of the continued importance of the UK market, which began with our first full ex-UK season back in 2018.

“Since then, we have gone from strength to strength and we are committed to offering the best possible experience for our guests from the UK and Ireland.”

In summer 2023, Virtuosa will replace MSC Grandiosa offering a range of itineraries from mini cruises, and seven-night sailings to longer cruises. Further details of the full programme will be released soon.

MSC Cruises ‘very close’ to fulfilling UK market ambition

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Image result for MSC grandiosa"

MSC Cruises’ UK boss says the line is “very close” to fulfilling a long-term ambition to have a 10% share of the UK cruise market.

In late 2017, the line pledged to one-day sell one in every ten cruises taken by the UK and become “a leading international player” within five years.

Antonio Paradiso, the line’s the UK and Ireland managing director said MSC currently has 7.9% of the market but believes a lengthened MSC Magnifica would add a further 90,000 berths to the market in 2021.

Speaking on new Meraviglia-Plus class ship MSC Grandiosa in Southampton, Paradiso said: “I am really confident that by 2022, MSC will be the number one international cruise line in this country. We are getting very close to that.

“We’re are at about 7.9%, so we’re getting there. A big boost will be when MSC Magnifica will sail out of Southampton [in summer 2021].”

Southampton will be MSC Magnifica’s only embarkation port when it is based in the UK in summer 2021.

Paradiso said: “It is a great opportunity for the travel agents. [Magnifica] alone will boost our production by 90,000 passengers.”

The line also has plans to further bolster its growing sales team in 2020. Paradiso said he would recruit for a strategic account manager – a new role – early next year.

“The strategic account manager will help [head of retail] Andrea Stafford strengthen the relationship with all the head offices in the UK and some important key accounts,” he said.

Paradiso said the sales team expansion goes “hand in hand” with the growth the line was experiencing in the UK.

MSC launched MSC Bellissima earlier this year. MSC Grandiosa is 16 metres longer than the Meraviglia-class ship.

On Grandiosa, the line has exhibited an art collection on a ship for the first time, expanded its French Bistrot L’Atelier Bistrot and launched two exclusive Cirque du Soleil shows onboard.

The line has welcomed around 4,200 UK agents across its fleet since the launch of MSC Bellissima in Southampton in March this year.

Ship visits would be arranged when MSC ships called in the UK and Ireland, said Paradiso, who added: “One thing we do very successfully is fam trips every year which are normally fly-and-cruise out of Barcelona or Rome which allow agents to spend time onboard.

“The ex-UK sailings represent a good portion of our business. However, the Mediterranean is still the number one destination for the UK market.

“It is important that agents get to experience the ships that we have in the Med.”

From 2023, the line will launch four 64,000-ton luxury vessels which have yet to be named. Paradiso said the name would be announced between March and April next year.

“The first step would be to announce the brand,” he said. “We will disclose a bit more information about the luxury ships that we are building. The UK will be one of the first countries in the world to go on sale.”