CARNIVAL CORPORATION AND CARNIVAL PLC

Carnival Corporation and Carnival plc

Carnival Corporation and Carnival plc

Carnival Corporation began their operations in 1972 when Ted Arison purchased an aging ship and converted it into the first vessel for their cruise line. Since then, Carnival Corporation has grown into the world's largest cruise line with Ted Arison's son Mickey Arison taking over as CEO of the Corporation. Carnival has cruise brands that offer a broad range of travel from contemporary to luxury to fit everyone's budget. Carnival currently has six cruise brands. Those include Carnival Cruises (family Caribbean vacations), Holland America (luxury cruises), Cunard (ocean liner service), Costa Crociere (European destinations), Seabourn (luxury), and Windstar (luxury). In addition to the cruise lines, they also operate a tour business that offers sightseeing tours both separately and as a part of its cruise packages. Carnival also receives revenue form various onboard activities including casino gambling, bar sales, gift shops, arcades, spa services, and photo/art sales.

Carnival Corporation's mission statement is to provide an alternative to traditional vacations by offering quality cruise packages that target customers of every age.

Carnival's major competitors include Norwegian Cruise Lines, P&O Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, and Celebrity Cruises. Some other competitors in the cruise line industry are Club Med, American Hawaii, Commodore, Dolphin, Radisson, and Royal Olympic. Even though competition is intensifying within the cruise industry, many analysts believe there is a big undiscovered market in North America where only around 7% of the people have ever taken a cruise.

At the present time, the cruise industry appears to be very favorable. There is a significant amount of industry growth and a huge market available in North America. One of the central issues of Carnival Corporation is how to reach ninety three percent (93%) of the population in North America that has yet to take a cruise for their vacation plans. It has been estimated that there is a five billion-dollar market in North America that has been untouched. Carnival's growth potential could seem unlimited if they could capture a significant amount of that market. Another central issue, that somewhat ties together with the first one, is the increase of competition in the industry. With new cruise company's putting out additional fleets of ships, it will become harder and harder for all of the company's in the industry to operate their cruises at full capacity. This will prove to be ...