Travel News Nov/Dec 2022
IT’S FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR ROYAL CARIBBEAN IN 2023
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW : STUART BYRON 49
that big holiday for some time and they’ve had some money saved away to go and do exactly that, and make the most of it this year. The really good part is that we are seeing the same trends continue now into 2023. In terms of demand for Europe, demand for Caribbean, both proving to be really strong. The rate that we are seeing people booking at and the cabin categories, are really positive. We are seeing a lot of trade up happening, so it is looking a very positive picture. What are the next six months looking like for Royal Caribbean? In
the next
BY ERIN ENGLISH
erin@nitravelnews.com
NI TRAVEL News’ Erin English caught up with Stuart Byron, Royal Caribbean’s Sales Director for UK and Ireland to hear about what’s in store for 2023... Since Royal Caribbean announced the removal of vaccination requirements for travellers, have you seen an increase in bookings? “We are seeing some really good demand actually for a good few months now. We seen, as we come into august, that some of that demand has shifted towards 2023. We are more or less done with 2022 now, it’s been a really successful
summer actually which is really nice to see. The ships have been sailing at really strong load factors through the season. With 2023, and the positive news about the relaxation of the protocols, we are seeing some very positive momentum in terms of overall demand and bookings are really strong.
As we emerge from the pandemic, has there been an increase in guests seeking to upgrade their holidays?
We have seen, actually, the upgrades in terms of the statement categories. People are booking more balcony plus than ever at the moment from Ireland and the UK business. We are seeing that the average spend on board is increasing. So I think everybody has been ready and waiting for
six months, we will finish off the Europe 2022 season. We’ve just moved into our mini wave period, booking trends have been a little abnormal now
for a couple of years, but we’re certainly seeing the mini wave boom start to kick back in again which is great to see. One thing we are noticing that our guests want to the total spend that they are looking at, so the great thing about a Royal Caribbean holiday is that once you get onboard, you’ve covered everything. So guests can relax and enjoy themselves, and have a great vacation. Something that we’ve all been waiting for. Looking slightly longer ahead, a really big and exciting piece of news for us, is the launch of Icon of The Seas which will be happening in 2023. On the back of launching Wonder of the Seas, our fifth oasis class, this year and having her sailing in Europe has been great. I think we are in extreme recognition of the importance of
Europe to the brand. We are really excited to be launching Icon next year, our first new class of ship in about ten years, so it’s a real milestone for Royal Caribbean.
What are the booking trends like for 2023? Really strong actually, we are seeing some strong trends now into 2023. 2023 started a little bit later, because everything has been pushed back a bit with easing of restrictions and protocols as we came into Summer, so we’ve seen later booking trends with holidays in 2022 in general. Then we saw the dial start to shift ahead to 2023 in late July early august and as we went into September that stepped up a gear. We are seeing some really strong demand now for 2023, we alongside the air programme have announced that we have the charter flights again from George Belfast City Airport. We had that programmed this summer supporting Wonder, flying out to Barcelona. I have to say, it’s probably one of the most successful charter programmes we’ve ever done. It went in the blink of an eye, and we launched the programme supporting Explora, flying from Belfast to Bologna. We only put that on sale on the first of September, and already we are sold out on a number of dates. Momentum is really strong and really positive so it’s very encouraging to see. Lastly, any messages for the NI Travel Trade? As always, to thank the Travel Trade for all of their support. We wouldn’t be where we are without their support and they have been great partners to us for a really long period of time now. Certainly as we built back up to pretty much business as usual. We really are having to run at pace and the trade is certainly keeping up with us which is great. Then as we look ahead to 2023, the bit we still see as very important is being able to provide that full package, so booking air alongside the cruise with Royal Caribbean. There is still a need for little bit of reassurance that travellers are looking for. We have taken on our biggest ever air programme as we at to 2023, in recognition of that fact. We can certainly see that the trade are getting right behind that with the sales momentum we’re seeing.
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