There
continues to be validation for agents’ reports that Wave Season is turning out
fine despite geopolitical and market
challenges.
The latest is from SunTrust. Analyst C. Patrick Scholes uses unusually rosy
terms when reporting on December
pricing: “Best advertised pricing growth in years.”
Scholes notes that industrywide advertised pricing for all future sailings
accelerated to +6.9% in December,
up from an already positive +3.4% in November year over year.
“This is the strongest rate of advertised pricing growth we have observed in at
least 4 years,” Scholes says.
The strongest regions for advertised pricing growth continue to be the
Caribbean and Alaska. “We see
ongoing weakness in dollar advertised pricing in Europe, Asia, and Australia/NZ, though pricing declines
were ‘less bad’ than previous checks,” says Scholes.
Given this week’s suicide bombing in the tourist centre of Istanbul, pricing
for Med cruises may be under more
pressure in the weeks to come.
SunTrust says Carnival Cruise Lines is the biggest gainer in recent months.
CCL’s advertised pricing for all
future sailings was a healthy +6.2% y/y in December.
It probably doesn’t hurt that CCL has huge Caribbean capacity and little
exposure in Europe, but Scholes
gives kudos to CCL’s yield management, citing the root of CCL’s strong pricing as a lengthening booking curve allowing the cruise giant to take fewer
discounted close-in bookings.
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