Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Will the cruise industry survive?
Carnival Corp., once a $21 billion company, lost $10 billion and saw revenue plunge to zero overnight last year when the pandemic shut down the cruise industry.
It’s CEO Arnold Donald’s job to navigate uncharted waters for the cruise giant, which operates nine brands that span the globe.
Donald is counting on experienced cruisers being eager to sail again but acknowledges that the industry faces a challenge to attract new followers.
Donald has led Carnival since 2013, when he replaced founder Micky Arison. Donald talked recently to The Associated Press about his company and the cruise industry.
Can you start by describing what the pandemic has done to Carnival?
It’s certainly been devastating to the travel and tourism sector overall and maybe even more so to the cruise industry in particular. Even though we had no revenue, we had to continue to man the ships with minimal manning, so we had a significant burn rate with no revenue coming in.
Unlike the airlines, which got a $54 billion bailout for the pandemic, cruise lines didn’t get any federal aid. Is that because you’re incorporated in Panama?
We’re not technically a U.S. corporation, so of course that could influence a decision like that. I don’t know why the government did what it did, but that’s a rational thought.
Do you worry that coverage of virus outbreaks on cruise ships will scare away passengers for a long time?
For people who haven’t cruised and don’t understand it and don’t know what it is, sure, those images make it a harder hill for us to climb. For those who have cruised, and there are plenty of them, we do not have an issue because they know that when you go on a cruise there’s a medical center on board and there is a doctor and nurses and hand-sanitizing stations.
As CEO, you replaced the founder, Micky Arison, (who remains chairman) and you came in shortly after the Costa Concordia capsized off Italy and the Carnival Triumph drifted around the Caribbean with no power and no toilets after a fire knocked out power. What was that like?
Micky hadn’t been booted out as CEO, which some people were trying to say in the media. He was a big part of the decision to divide the chairman role and the CEO role, knowing that we had to focus attention on some of these areas that with the publicity and all of that, and other areas in the business that needed additional focus.
You’re 66, you’ll be 67 in a few months. How long are you going to stay in the job?
As long as the board and the shareholders want to have me continue to do it. Certainly as we navigate through the rest of this pandemic and get this corporation back on the straight road of financial success with great returns to shareholders, I will commit whatever is needed to help make that happen.