Carnival Rides North American Booking Wave to New Record

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Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, March 28. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

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Episode Notes

Carnival Corporation is continuing to make enormous strides in its recovery from the pandemic. The company recorded its highest-ever booking volume for future sailings during the first quarter. That’s in large part due to its stellar performance in North America, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam. 

Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein said during its earnings call on Monday that North American booking volumes have exceeded 2019 levels during the last six months. He added the company has seen demand surge across all regions. Carnival does not disclose specific numbers for bookings. 

Although Carnival is doing well in Europe, the company is struggling to make a full recovery in both Asia and Australia. Habtemariam reports Carnival has been hit hard by China not reopening to international cruise travel. 

Next, New York City is tweaking its iconic “I Love New York” slogan to “We Love New York City” as part of a new marketing campaign. But Global Tourism Reporter Habtemariam writes the new slogan like many others faces an uphill climb in gaining acceptance from the public. 

Habtemariam reports New York City is launching the campaign to help boost civic engagement as well as pride in the city. Kathryn Wylde, a local business executive, admitted that New Yorkers largely felt pessimistic about the state of the city, adding the widespread negativity makes promoting tourism difficult. New Yorkers largely felt pessimistic about the state of the city, adding the widespread negativity makes promoting tourism difficult. Wylde said the new slogan is supposed to inspire New Yorkers to take concrete action to improve the city. Habtemariam writes marketing campaigns can drive civic engagement, citing St. Louis as an example. 

However, Habtemariam notes the new campaign has largely been ridiculed in the press. One marketing expert acknowledged it’s very difficult for tourism slogans to win community support, adding there have been more failures than successes. Habtemariam also writes that tourism slogans often struggle to gain acceptance because they can’t tell people how to feel. 

Finally, the U.S. is making substantial progress in reducing the lengthy waits Indian travelers endure to obtain visitor visas. Wait times at some U.S. consulates in India have dropped below one year, reports Middle East and Asia Reporter Amrita Ghosh and Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia in Skift’s India Travel Daily newsletter.

Reducing visa visitor delays has been a major priority for U.S. consulates in India, a major tourism market for the U.S. Average wait times are roughly 250 days in New Delhi and 330 days in Mumbai. The consulate in Mumbai had recently announced it was bringing in consular officers from around the world to assist with its visa operations.