On Friday, Costa’s parent company Carnival Corp. announced that the cruise line’s number of bookings were up 25% from what they were at this same time last year.
This is good news for Costa after some of the battles the company faced with trying to convince cruisers to sail with them after the tragic accident of the Costa Concordia in January of this year.
It is estimated that what really brought more people to book with Costa this quarter has been the lower prices that Costa has rolled out to try to increase their bookings.
“The attractive pricing we have in the marketplace is clearly stimulating demand, especially for the Costa brand,” said Carnival Corp. chairman Micky Arison, in a statement.
Right after the accident Costa saw a sharp decline in sales, and this was to be expected with the uncertainty of the company’s ability to handle the situation, but the resurgence in bookings shows more than just a demand for lower cost cruises. It also shows that cruisers are at least partially ready to trust the cruise line again.
When Carnival Corp. COO Howard Frank spoke of the boost in sales this quarter he said, “The picture has improved. Costa’s booking volumes, stimulated by significant pricing initiatives as part of their remarketing campaign introduced in April, have shown considerable strength.”
As Costa continues to address the safety concerns of its passengers and also provide an affordable vacation it still has to face the challenges of convincing much of the public that its crew has the proper training to be able to keep its passengers safe.
We would love to hear your feedback on this. Would you go on a cruise with Costa? Why or why not? With some incredible deals the company has offered, it should at least be a little tempting to any avid cruiser.
