This was the message from UK and Ireland Clia chair and Royal Caribbean vice-president EMEA Ben Bouldin during the closing sessions of the 2022 Clia Conference onboard Anthem of the Seas on Sunday (22 May).
He said the trade was "critical" to the industry’s growth over the next few years, which he said had been "hampered" due to rising inflation and conflict in eastern Europe.
"The trade is critical to all cruise lines in terms of their ability to grow and we are not coming back, we are now growing," he told delegates, adding: "2023 will be a bigger year for the industry than 2019 and we will need you to help us get back to where we were."
Bouldin also raised concerns over difficulties the aviation industry is facing in regards to reduced staff numbers and increased wait times in some airports.
"Outbound travel has got some complexities, the airlines have not showered themselves in glory at the moment but we have to appreciate they are finding it as hard as we are, and I do have sympathy for the challenges they face. It doesn’t always make it easy but we will get there," he said.
He said the cost-of-living situation in the UK is a "real challenge", highlighting the fact January saw the highest inflation rates in the UK since March 1992, creating an "added level of hardship" for the UK population.
"The impact of rising inflation and cost of living is going to make a difference, and it is going to have an impact on people’s confidence to travel," he continued.
"Fortunately I think at the moment people are still feeling very bullish, because of course travel was suppressed by the pandemic. But at some point it is likely to bite and we will have to weather the storm."
He urged the industry to "continue to be smarter and more efficient" to ensure cruising remains affordable for customers.
He described the current conflict in Ukraine as "devastating," and the knock-on effect has caused the pace of the cruise industry’s recovery from the pandemic to slow.
"Our ability to get back to a degree of normality in travel has obviously been significantly hampered [by the conflict]," he continued.
"As an international industry it is particularly heart-wrenching to see the conflict, with many industry employees, crew members and trade partners being severely impacted. Ukrainian citizens have been forced to make unimaginable decisions and they have shown tremendous courage.
"We need to be vigilant. Covid cases still exist but our protocols work. We have a huge amount of kudos amongst the governments around the world for the way in which we corrected, we have been nimble, we tackled and we stepped up. We will make sure we are on the front foot and vigilant at all times as an industry."
In conclusion, Bouldin said Royal is currently selling around 50% more at the moment for the coming summer than it did in 2019.
"We only achieve those numbers with your support," he told agents. "Have the confidence to keep pushing and we will get there, successfully, together".
