“The cruise ship revolution is coming: Liberty of the Seas will arrive in Barcelona in 2011.” These were the words posted on the social networking site Facebook by Belén Wangüemert, Managing Director of Royal Caribbean Cruises Espana, S.L., to announce the deployment of Liberty of the Seas to Barcelona next year. Liberty of the Seas will be the world’s largest and most innovative cruise ship to homeport in the Mediterranean Sea in 2011 and will offer guests a most memorable Europe holiday experience.

The presence of the ship in Gaudi’s city, from where more than 3,600 tourists will embark weekly, represents Royal Caribbean International’s commitment to the Spanish market. The cruise ship sector in Spain continues to grow at an annual rate of between eight and 10 percent, despite the fall in tourism. One very influential factor in this growth is the huge investment made in Spain by the cruise ship operator to make cruise holidays an attractive product for all sorts of holidaymakers due to their versatility and value. Royal Caribbean predicts a 60 percent growth in guest volume in 2010, compared with a growth of 30 percent in 2009.

Belén Wangüemert commented: “In such a pessimistic economic environment, we are proud to continue our commitment to the Spanish market and to keep investing in it. As well as bringing in new ships, we have also significantly increased our staff in Spain – in these particularly tough times – so that we can achieve a growth of 60 percent, allowing us to offer almost 100,000 berths. We believe that this is the moment to continue our investments in the Spanish market, and this commitment will not end in 2010, as the arrival of the Liberty of the Seas in 2011 will consolidate our position as one of the top brands in the market.”