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Critical global issues not hurting cruise biz
This will be the best year ever for cruising, predicts Regent Seven Seas Cruises President Mark Conroy.
"It should be the best year in our history in spite of all the events that have occurred around the world, starting with floods in Machu Picchu, earthquakes in Chile, pirates off the coast of Africa, volcanic ash covering Europe, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and civil disorder in Greece,” he said.
Jack Mannix, President and CEO of Ensemble Travel Group says that of the 20 strong cruise selling members he has touched base with, "eleven of them felt business was up in the past few weeks, while four felt it was about the same. Five did feel that business was down in the past couple of weeks."
Mannix acknowledges his survey is far from scientific: "But it’s a large enough group to imply generally things are no worse and perhaps a bit better of late. This jives pretty much with my anecdotal knowledge.”
But, several other agents have reported a slowdown due to the problems in Greece, not only for its effect on the stock market but with Mediterranean bookings themselves.
"I have people looking for an August cruise out of Greece expressing concerns of getting caught in the riots in Athens or that their flight will be cancelled," reported one seller.
While Athens is not a major roundtrip port, many lines still start or end a cruise in Greece, and Athens is a frequent port of call for cruises starting elsewhere.
To date, the major lines have made no changes.
"We had some discussions and a few calls, but, so far, we are planning to operate as scheduled," reports Regent’s Conroy.
He added that Athens always has strikes and protests during the summer, many of which occur on Fridays or Mondays, but this month’s violence was unprecedented, but things seemed to be calming down.
By David Wilkening
David
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