By now you have all heard or read about the terrible tragedy in Italy. Everyone is speculating over how it happened and what went wrong. Of course for most of us we cannot truly understand the depth of what occurred since we were not there. But what does this mean for cruise travel in the near future? TripAdvisor reported a 4% increase in travelers planning to cruise this year, people are looking for more cultural trips and cruises are often an excellent source for this travel goal. But what effect will this Concordia event have on plans to cruise now? This time of year is especially important for the travel industry for bookings to occur, people are spending their year-end bonuses and tax returns as well as selecting their vacation times with their companies. Not to mention that during this dreary weather the first thing people think of is traveling to a tropical destination. CNN Money reports the following,  

In a recent poll on SodaHead asking “Are You Less Likely to Take a Cruise Given the Costa Concordia Tragedy?” one-quarter of respondents said yes, while about half replied no, and the rest answered, “I was unlikely to take a cruise in the first place!”

Not to mention the detrimental effect it will have on Carnival, Costa’s parent company. This article indicates that Carnival will be delving out a whopping $40 million in insurance deductibles alone, tack on the loss in revenue and Carnival is expected to see close to a $100 million loss in 2012.
If you ask me cruising is a preference, I think you either love it or you hate it. Hopefully people will do their research before planning any vacation, including a cruise, and make their destination decisions based on facts and reviews. While this event is certainly not an isolated one, it is not a common occurrence when you factor in the hundreds of cruises that depart daily worldwide. Travel wisely and carefully.

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Jennifer Ulrich

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  1. Wow hot off the press- I agree- they say the same every time a plane goes down- couple months it won't be an issue - I'm still waiting for our plan to go into effect!!!!!

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