The FCCA Conference Presidential Panel, an impressive line-up of cruise industry leaders discussing the future of cruise tourism, moderated by Port St. Maarten Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alexander Gumbs (left).
MAHO--Customer experience reigning supreme, the necessity of sustainability, and the need to continually invest in and plan for the future, despite not knowing exactly how the future will unfold, were major takeaways of the Presidential Panel at the 2024 Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Conference and Trade Show.
An impressive line-up of cruise industry leaders shared to-the-point insights in the discussion moderated by Port St. Maarten Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alexander Gumbs.
The conference is taking place taking place at Sonesta Ocean Point Resort October 21-25. This is St. Maarten’s third time hosting the major event attended by hundreds of regional and international cruise industry stakeholders intent on strengthening their tourism product and business relationships.
The Presidential Panel was a major highlight of the event, exploring the future of the cruise industry and focusing on key topics such as expansion, sustainability, and innovation. The panel comprised Margaritaville at Sea CEO Christopher Ivy; MSC Cruises USA Chairman Richard Sasso; Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. President and CEO Harry Sommer; Princess Cruises President John Padgett; and Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley.
While an array of different topics were being discussed among the panellists, from the trend of demand for longer stays, to how technology can be leveraged, to competition, capacity issues and changing demographics – the core theme that kept coming up, the bottom line, was simply that customer experience comes above all else; it is the motivation behind decisions, the drive behind continuous research and design.
Padgett, while describing working with large numbers of people, stressed the importance of offering personalised service, of minimising hassle and frustrations, and of keeping things flowing, something panellists all agreed on as essential to a positive customer experience.
As put by Royal Caribbean CEO Bayley, the real “testimony of success is when people pay top dollar on the experience.” He said that he spends half of his week on design, focusing on innovation and creativity. He stressed the importance of understanding the consumer and exceeding expectations.
Growth and the need for sustainability and investment were also major themes. Bouncing back from COVID, Sommer said the industry is “bigger bolder, more successful than we were in 2019,” describing a bright future for both the industry and the Caribbean while underscoring the worthiness of investing. He said that 10 years from now, some 50 million are scheduled to cruise and the majority would be here in the Caribbean basin – reason for confidence in making investments.
On the same topic, Sasso noted that since COVID, the value of the industry is quadruple what it had been expected to be.
Besides investing in the tourism product, destinations were encouraged to work on marketing and branding that sets them apart. Grenada was named as a positive example of this, leveraging its spices as something unique, appealing, and marketable. Ivy, from Margaritaville at Sea, also said that the smaller brand was looking to work with unique destinations.
Collaboration in the region was encouraged for cruise industry career training, and improved consistency in employment laws, which Bayley in particular advocated for, saying that people from the Caribbean would be able to get a larger share of jobs onboard over the coming years if that were to happen. Collaboration was also encouraged on keeping destinations safe.
Sasso made two interesting points on planning, while not being able to predict the future. In an already proven example, he said that the cruise industry was built on supply, not demand. Destinations were in demand, but the demand for cruises themselves came from the creation of the supply. In another example made while discussing sustainability at the beginning of the panel discussion, he described that goals must be made, even when the way forward is not 100% clear yet. While some solutions are well in place, others are not yet invented.
The Presidential Panel taking place early on, allows for more informed discussions among attendees over the coming days at the FCCA Conference.
