Virgin Voyages CEO: Child-Free Strategy Fills Untapped Market
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Leaders of Travel: Skift C-Suite Series
What are the top trends impacting hotels, airlines, and online bookings? We speak to the executives shaping the future of travel.Richard Branson's adults-only cruise venture, Virgin Voyages, had a challenging pandemic-era launch, with its first ship, Scarlet Lady, setting sail in 2021. But two more ships launched in quick succession: Valiant Lady in 2022 and Resilient Lady in 2023. "Last year, we saw this real inflection in momentum,” said CEO Nirmal Saverimuttu. "We were up 60% on revenue."
The CEO said 2025 is tracking similar growth in bookings. A fourth vessel, Brilliant Lady, is scheduled for its maiden voyage in September.
CEO Nirmal Saverimuttu. Source: Virgin Voyages. An untapped marketThe cruise line is a joint venture between Virgin Group and Bain Capital. As with Branson’s other businesses (travel brands include Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia in aviation, Virgin Galactic, and Virgin Hotels), the decision to enter the cruise industry when establishing Virgin Voyages in 2014 was driven by identifying an untapped market within it.
“We always look for these really big industries where we believe there’s a big white space where we can offer a point of difference,” Saverimuttu said.
The cruise market, he admitted, was a “unique challenge” for Virgin, which has typically entered
