Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Opens Office in Sao Paulo and Steps Up Brazilian Cruise Market Commitment With Official Visit by Ro
August 06 2009 - 12:23PM
PR Newswire (US)
SAO PAULO, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Caribbean Cruises
Ltd. is ramping up its commitment to growing the South America
cruise market with the official opening of a new office in Sao
Paulo, Brazil, the first Royal Caribbean company-owned office in
the region. The event is marked today by a formal visit by Royal
Caribbean International President and CEO, Adam Goldstein,
highlighting Brazil as a key region earmarked for both investment
and growth. "The cruise market in Brazil is one of the fastest
growing in the world, and with increased investment and commitment,
we aim to accelerate this trend," said Goldstein. "In late 2009
Royal Caribbean International will have two ships - Vision of the
Seas and Splendour of the Seas - dedicated to the Brazilian market
which represents a significant uplift in available cruise
departures. Reinforcing the positive knock-on economic benefits
that cruising brings and improving cruise selling awareness are key
objectives of my visit to Brazil. I look forward to Royal Caribbean
International's expansion in Brazil and in the entire South America
cruise market." The new Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. office,
located in Sao Paulo, will support the commercial and operational
efforts in Brazil of the company's three cruise brands - Royal
Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises -
and will continue to further its international expansion plans,
supporting the growing demand for cruise itineraries departing
Brazil and around the world. The opening of Royal Caribbean's Sao
Paulo office comes at a key time for the burgeoning Brazilian
cruise business. In the last eight seasons, the number of guests
embarking on cruises from Brazil grew 623%, with an average growth
of 33% per year. In addition to marking the official opening of the
Brazil offices, Goldstein is also meeting cruise industry
representatives from ABREMAR, the Brazilian association of cruise
lines, and local authorities from the Ministry of Tourism, the Port
Authority and the Commission of Tourism and Sports of the Federal
Chamber. Working alongside ABREMAR, Goldstein will be highlighting
key benefits of the growing cruise industry to Brazil including
international visitor attraction and increased revenue
opportunities for related services such as hotels and land tours.
Plus, the official visit also will see Goldstein convey best
practice examples from ports of call around the world that have
improved port and destination infrastructure and services to
attract growing cruise guest numbers. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
holds a leading role in ABREMAR, since the company's Brazil
managing director, Ricardo Amaral, was appointed as the new
President earlier this year. "Leading ABREMAR and growing the
cruise industry in Brazil complements my role with Royal
Caribbean," said Amaral. "ABREMAR estimates that during 2008 to
2009, the cruise industry in Brazil was responsible for generating
almost 40,000 jobs and almost US$340 million in related
expenditure. The cruise market in Brazil has a huge growth
potential. There is a lot still to be done and many challenges to
face, but it is our first goal for the main cruise lines and
related services to work successfully together in order to
stimulate the expansion of the market." When Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd. appointed cruise veteran, Amaral as managing director
for Brazil in January 2009, it was the company's first such
appointment in the South America region. The cruise market in
Brazil has grown from 70,000 cruisers in 2001 to over half a
million guests in 2008. New for the 2009-2010 season, Royal
Caribbean International will offer 21 departures of three and
four-night cruises from the port of Santos with the 2,000-guest
Vision of the Seas and 1,804 guest Splendour of the Seas. Also
available are five, six, seven and eight-night cruises onboard
Vision of the Seas and Splendour of the Seas from December 2009
including cruises dedicated to Christmas and New Year celebrations,
for a total of another 21 sailings. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is
a global cruise vacation company that operates Royal Caribbean
International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and
CDF Croisieres de France. The company has a combined total of 38
ships in service and five under construction. It also offers unique
land-tour vacations in Alaska, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Canada,
Dubai, Europe and South America. Additional information can be
found on http://www.royalcaribbean.com/, http://www.celebrity.com/,
http://www.azamaracruises.com/,
http://www.cdfcroisieresdefrance.com/, http://www.pullmantur.es/ or
http://www.rclinvestor.com/. DATASOURCE: Royal Caribbean Cruises
Ltd. CONTACT: Media: Elisabetta Raffo, PR Manager, International,
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., (+44) 1932 834272, (+44) 7595 106410,
Web Site: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/
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