Roberto Martinoli, the line’s chief executive, said he believed the success of the expedition market “is so evident” and the increase in capacity coming into the space would be "more than offset by guest demand.”
“When you look into the expansion of the expedition market – there is going to be quite the significant addition of capacity,” he said. “What we have seen at the moment, if you look at our latest Antarctica season, we have increased capacity by more than 60% so we have been able to fill it really easily."
Lines including Ponant, Scenic, Celebrity Cruises and Quark Expeditions all have expedition ships on order due to come into service in the next few years.
According to Martinoli, expedition sales currently account for around 30% of Silversea’s revenue.
When asked during a press conference onboard Silver Cloud if he foresaw prices in the sector “flattening” due to a surge in supply, Martinoli said: “We are not too concerned by the flattening of prices and we think there will be a good balance and expect demand to be more than the additional capacity.”
Mark Conroy, Silversea’s managing director of the Americas, argued that of all the planned expedition vessels due to enter the market – more than 20 by 2021 – the berth capacity still only totaled up to 3,500.
Echoing the pair, Barbara Muckermann, chief marketing officer, described how due to Silversea’s loyal Baby Boomer guests shifting their spending from material goods to experiences, they would act as the “propelling fuel” for future Silversea growth.
“We are really bullish about knowing the demand is there for expedition,” she said.
