The term ‘bouncebackability’ was coined by former football manager Iain Dowie when he was working as a TV pundit to describe a team’s resilience.
And it’s an apt description of the state of the UK travel industry – cruising in particular – as it looks to emerge from the dark days of economic recession which hit 12 months ago.
It is a theme that acted as the backdrop for the annual ABTA Travel Convention which attracted 1,000 delegates to Barcelona last week to hear a raft of facts, figures and forecasts about the business in general.
For many in attendance, it was an admission of survival against the odds after one of the worst trading periods in living memory and, judging from the late night partying going on, they were up for celebrating the fact that they’d got through the worst.
More attracted to cruise
From a cruise sector perspective, it was quite clear that the unbeatable prices offered this year in response to a tightening in consumer spending had done the trick in helping attract even more people to holiday afloat.
Official figures released at the Travel Convention by industry body the Passenger Shipping Association confounded many by being quite so good.
The organisation was able to announce that a record 1.55 million people will take a cruise this year, up by five per cent on 2008 – a pretty remarkable achievement during a period of turmoil for the general travel trade.
But that’s not all. The PSA also issued a bold forecast suggesting that the number of UK cruise passengers will rise once again in 2010 by 6.5% to 1.65 million. Cunard Line boss Peter Shanks even suggested that smashing through the two million passenger barrier is not far off.
New ships for 2010
So where will those extra 100,000 be coming from next year?
The main driving force will be the introduction of new ships dedicated to the UK – Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Eclipse, P&O Cruises’ Azura and Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth.
Additionally, Royal Caribbean International will be sailing year-round from Southampton for the first time with Independence of the Seas, Thomson Cruises will introduce a new ship Thomson Dream and another company, Cruise & Maritime, is to introduce a second ship, Ocean Countess with sailings from regional departure ports.
There will be at least 16 new ships launched next year (see chart) ranging from the largest such as the 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas to more intimate luxury vessels.
The one common denominator about all this activity is the on-going exceptional value cruise holidays have to offer.
The two key drivers remain value and quality. The all-inclusive nature of cruising and the very high standards of quality, innovation and customer service have made cruising a compelling and mainstream holiday choice, the PSA believes.
However, concerns do remain, such as tipping when on board and the introducing of more extras passengers are finding they have to pay for once on their cruise.
Both were subject of some heated debate at a special Cruise Forum on board the ship Navigator of the seas moored in Barcelona harbour as part of the convention.
The man conclusion was, however, that the cruise experience, with its quality service, food and entertainment, is a million miles away from equivalent land-based holidays.
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