The world’s biggest cruise groups are pouring money into private destinations for their customers as booming demand rubs up against a backlash against overtourism in many popular spots. The biggest operator, Carnival, is in the midst of developing the $600mn Celebration Key on the island of Grand Bahama. The “first-ever exclusive destination to be purpose-built” for the company will open next year.
“You deliver the experience, you have the volume, and people want to pay more money to go to those destinations. So we see a higher return profile on the destination than we do on the ships.” Norwegian chief executive Harry Sommer recently said the new pier on Great Stirrup Cay should ultimately generate “higher guest satisfaction, higher revenue, higher repeat rates becomes a virtuous cycle”.