Royal Caribbean: Genting Exit Presents Opportunity in China

Royal Caribbean Group is hopeful on the long-term potential in China, sees an opportunity with the potential Genting Cruise Lines exit, and is committed to the market despite deploying ships elsewhere for 2022.

“With respect to China, it remains closed for cruising, and we have redeployed the remaining two ships planned in 2022 to other key markets. We remain optimistic that we can capture long-term growth opportunities in the China market,” said Naftali Holtz, chief financial officer, speaking on the company’s year end and fourth quarter earnings call. 

Meanwhile the potential exit of Genting Cruise Lines could present an opportunity, according to Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International.

“We see opportunity,” he said, noting Genting’s potential exit. “China for us has been a long journey. We’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve had some incredibly productive and wonderful years and we’ve had some equally challenging years. And true to form, it seems to stay on the same path.

“There’s a belief that after the Olympics are behind us, that there will be more positive news coming out of China,” Bayley said.

“I think our long-term perspective of China is we’re in China and we’re going to make China work. We see a huge amount of upside and opportunity. I think Genting exiting the stage is, again, an opportunity for us. And our teams in Asia are already planning and leveraging (those opportunities). But our appetite for the opportunity has not shifted. We think China is always going to be a very important part of our strategic portfolio, and we are going to continue our journey as soon as the news starts to become more positive, which at some point, it does have to become more positive.”

Cruise Industry News Email Alerts

Cruise Industry News Email Alerts

 

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get the latest breaking cruise newsSign up.

CRUISE SHIP ORDERBOOK

51 Ships | 109,838 Berths | $35 Billion | View

New 2024 Drydock REPORT

Highlights:

  • Mkt. Overview
  • Record Year
  • Refit Schedule
  • 120 Pages
  • PDF Download
  • Order Today
New 2024 Annual Report

Highlights:

  • 2033 Industry Outlook 
  • All Operators
  • Easy to Use
  • Pre-Order Offer
  • Order Today