Virgin Cruises to challenge Carnival & co

Genoa - There is no tourist industry, no matter how extreme, from deep sea to interplanetary space, in which the 63-year-old entertainment tycoon Richard Branson has not associated his Virgin brand. The only missing link was cruise ships, but by 2019, this void will be filled. Branson is in fact seeking funding for 1.7 billion dollars to set up Virgin Cruises in Miami and buy the first ship. Branson stated: “We envisage a very different kind of cruise company [ed. compared to the existing ones]. We want to try to create the kind of cruise ship that attracts those who wouldn’t even have considered a cruise.” The cruise business has expanded rapidly in the last 20 years. In 1990, there were only 3.4 million cruise travellers around the world. By 2000, this number had doubled to 7.2 million. By 2010, it grew up to 18 million and the Cruise Market Watch predicts that in 2014 21.5 million will go on a cruise. The average annual growth rate is 7% and it did not slow down during the crisis. This is thanks to the emergence of new markets, especially in Asia, where companies have found new markets in China and the Arabian peninsula. As a matter of fact, Branson is looking for financial backers in Abu Dhabi for his project.

The goal is to raise 1 billion Euros through the banking system in order to purchase the company’s first ship. The other 700 million euros will be generated by selling stock of the new company. The financial operation will be managed by the American investment consulting firm Allen & co. A Virgin spokesperson said: “We will offer more entertainment and leisure opportunities on board the ships, making them attractive to a younger market.” It sounds like a challenge being laid down to the giant firms dominating the industry. Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line have 80% of the market. Cruise ships are already enormous entertainment centres where holidaymakers can forget they are even at sea. Companies offer everything to keep passengers on board, from golf courses to five star restaurants, the most sophisticated electronic simulators and an exceptional programme of star guests. But Branson has shown time and again that he is able to amaze with initiatives like Virgin Galactic, a company that offers space travel and has already tested out its spacecraft.

Branson started his fortune in 1970 with the creation of Virgin Music, a music label that emerged with a bang; its first production “Tubular Bells” was one of the top sellers in the world. In the following years, the entrepreneur entered the transportation industry with an airline and investments in the railroad sector. Today, the airline is undergoing the restructuring of a $300 million dollar debt, but Branson does not get discouraged. As he often does when he faces difficult situations, Branson looks for new partners who believe in his visionary projects. Other projects include hotels, telecommunications and banking. Even the maritime company Maersk has supported Branson in his project “shippingefficiency.org”. This project seeks to monitor the emission levels of ships, with the goal of offering future passengers a cleaner sea.