MSC Cruises has a similar challenge to the cruise industry as a whole, and it’s a really good challenge to have. That is, how to expand rapidly yet sustainably, tapping the huge potential of new regions and markets while maintaining high standards and values.
After four years of internal consolidation work, MSC Cruises has started growing once again, with two new cruise ships coming into service in 2017. Another 10 vessels will have followed by 2026, doubling the size of our fleet and tripling our passenger capacity. One of our key challenges is to absorb such an incredible expansion. To support this growth, we are engaging thousands of new employees, both onshore and on board our ships.
This is really a great challenge to have. Thanks to our newbuilding programme, we are now in a unique position to strengthen our presence around the world. In fact, with the entry into service of MSC Meraviglia and MSC Seaside, this is already happening, as it allows us to deploy some of our best tonnage in key markets including North America, the Caribbean and Asia.
This rapid expansion is not limited to MSC Cruises: the industry as a whole has huge growth potential. In the US, the world’s most important cruise market, cruising barely accounts for 3% of holidays. In Europe it’s 2%, and less than 1% in the rest of the world. If you couple this with the high competitiveness of our offering, the potential for the cruise industry to keep growing around the world is virtually limitless.
The increasingly mainstream, democratic nature of cruising will keep fuelling this growth. Long gone are the days when going on a cruise holiday was a rare luxury only accessible to very few people. Following decades of sustained and sustainable growth, cruising has become a highly competitive and affordable leisure product within everyone’s reach.
Some geographical areas will see more growth than others, of course. At MSC Cruises we see potential in both mature and developing markets. For example, despite some talk of market saturation in North America and the Caribbean, we see our expansion in this region as a top global priority. To this effect, we have permanently deployed MSC Seaside out of Miami following her entry into service in December 2017, joining MSC Divina. MSC Meraviglia will also be based in Miami as of 2019. We are also working to expand our presence in Asia, extending our presence from the Arabian/Persian Gulf to India and the South China Sea.
Given this worldwide potential, many cruise operators are now considering their strategies to enter new markets. I must say that we have had success in this area. Having only started operating purpose-built cruise ships in 2003, MSC Cruises was a latecomer to the cruise industry. And yet, we managed to become the number one cruise line in Europe and the Med in 10 years, while also developing operations across the world. Our approach when entering a new market is to innovate, go the extra mile in terms of offering the best possible service to our guests, and differentiate our product carefully.
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