Cruise Industry

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Long Term Prospects of Cruise Industry
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According to Grace (2008), the history of cruise ship dates back to 1844 following the advent of
pleasure cruises. Ships previously were primarily concerned with the sea transport of cargo and
mails, but gradually the concept of carrying passengers took shape with the introduction of
steamships. By the year 1850s and 1860s, ships were now solely catering for transportation of
passengers, the quality of expeditions increased with the introduction of luxuries like deck space,
entertainment and electric lights on board. Improvement of amenities in ship spurred interests
among passengers to take cruises, marking the beginning of a birth of the cruising industry.
Grace (2008) notes that Mark Twain in 1867 made the first maiden cruising trip that originated
from America, and later documented his experience in the book “Innocent Abroad.” Later on, the
British Medical Journal encouraged the public to take a pleasure voyage for curative purposes.
These together with transatlantic travels spurred the practice of cruising. Modern cruise ships,
according to Grace (2008), emerged in 1960s. Cruise ships were packaged as “fun ship”, an
image that was cut by their casual environment, luxurious amenities and on-board entertainment.
Therefore, cruise ships were designed to give passengers a rich expedition experience and not the
conventional role of ships, transporting passengers to a particular destination. One of the
characteristic of cruising is that passengers do not have a specified destination, but rather travel
for pleasure in round trips. This rich pleasure filled travel experience has emerged to be a multibillion industry. According to ICE (2013) in the year 2011 cruising revenue accounted for $29.4
billion, collected from 19 million passengers who enjoyed the cruising experience. At present
cruising, forms a major part of global tourism. Murray (2005) observes that in the past 20 years,
the cruising industry has enjoyed tremendous growth; however, going into the future, a 
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slowdown may be inevitable due to varied challenges. This essay seeks to evaluate critically the
long-term prospects of the cruise industry.
Profile of the Cruising Industry
According to Mitchell Duplessis Project (2009) there are four major cruising conglomerates
dominating the global cruise industry. The largest cruise player is Carnival Corporation, which
controls over 47% of the global berth capacity. The Royal Caribbean Cruises controls 23% of
total berth capacity worldwide. Norwegian Cruise Line or Star cruises controls 9% of total berth
capacity worldwide. MSC Cruise controls 6% of the global total berth capacity. The other 15$ of
the global total berth capacity is controlled by smaller cruise operators. Loper (2005) observes
that the Caribbean Region accounts for the largest cruise capacity placement and the most
popular region with cruise passenger, accounting for more than 50% of all cruise passengers in
the world.
ICE (2013) observes that the cruise industry has experienced unrivaled growth in the past four
decades to be marked as the fastest growing segment of the travel and tourism industry. The ICE
(2013) estimates that since 1964 to date the cruise industry in the United States of America, for
example, has witnessed 2,100 percent growth. Mitchell Duplessis Project (2009) observes that
the cruise industry has over the years grown from a modest sector into one of the fastest growing
sectors of the tourism industry in the entire world. The report further states that the cruise
industry was once small and localized, but the exponential growth has spurred the industry into a
sophisticated, multibillion-dollar industry, with the industry continuing to offer expensive and
assorted services to vacation consumers. The exponential growth in the cruise industry is
reinforced by the increasing fleet of new ships. ICE (2013) observes that in the 1980s only 40 
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cruise ships were built; in 1990s, the numbers doubled to 80 new debut ships; and from 2000 to
present over 100 new ships have been introduced in the industry. The exponential growth in
cruise industry has been also beneficial to economies by spurring tourism. For example, in the
United States of America, ICE (2013) estimates that the cruise industry total economic benefit
totaled $35.7 billion in the year 2006. The industry also generated close to 348,000 jobs and
direct spending by cruise crew, line and passengers peaking $17.6 billion. Increased cruising
travel has fuelled vacation experience among travelers with cruise ships being fitted with
innovative, sophisticated and excellent onboard amenities and facilities. For example, ICE
(2013) highlights that modern cruise ship are fitted with internet cafes, cell phone access, surfing