Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines 2008 Annual Report Download - page 23

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. 7
PART I
In 2008, we continued our strategy of acquiring or developing brands
custom-tailored to specific markets when we closed on our joint venture
agreement with TUI AG, a European tourism and shipping company that
owns 51% of TUI Travel. This joint venture operates TUI Cruises, a
new cruise brand targeted at the cruise market in Germany. TUI Cruises
will complement two of our existing brands custom-tailored to specific
markets, Pullmantur, which is targeted at passengers primarily in Spain
and Latin America and CDF Croisières de France, which is targeted at
passengers primarily in France.
Health, Safety, Security and Environmental Policies
We are committed to protecting the health, safety and security of our
passengers, employees and others working on our behalf. We are also
committed to protecting the marine environment in which our vessels
sail and the communities in which we operate by minimizing adverse
environmental consequences and using resources efficiently. To this
end, we established a unified department to oversee Global Security,
Maritime Safety, Medical and Public Health areas, and Environmental
Stewardship. The organization is comprised of technical experts in each
area focused on improving our systems for prevention and response.
Revenue Management
We believe we have some of the most advanced revenue management
capabilities in the industry, which enables us to make more advanta-
geous decisions about pricing, inventory management and marketing
actions. We are continuously working to improve our systems and tools
through increased forecasting capabilities, ongoing improvements to
our understanding of price/demand relationships, and greater automa-
tion of the decision processes. We believe these revenue management
capabilities allow us to make more advantageous decisions to enhance
revenue, especially during these uncertain economic times.
Technological Capabilities
We continue to invest in information technology to align with our
business strategies. In 2008, we completed the integration of Pullman-
tur and CDF Croisières de France into our reservations and accounting
platforms, enabling additional synergies across brands. Also in 2008,
we completed major upgrades to the reservations platform to support
future needs. The most significant changes enabled the selling of Oasis
of the Seas with expanded pricing options and key enhancements. We
also invested in our shoreside and shipboard systems integration, most
notably the Advanced Shipboard Revenue platform, where we enabled
the sale of specialty dining on our websites, prior to guests boarding the
vessel. This capability allows our guests to pre-arrange not only shore
excursions in advance of their cruise vacation, but also allows guests
to make reservations for one of our specialty restaurants.
To further align with our business strategy, we completed a major web
globalization initiative, launching our full Royal Caribbean International
website with localized content in a number of major international
markets, including the U.K., Spain, Latin America, and Brazil.
This year also marked the completion of a major Customer Relation-
ship Management initiative, an enhanced Marketing Datamart, which
allows us to better target marketing campaigns based on a wide array
of customer touch points, including web, call centers, and onboard.
Our fleet expansion was also a major focus for IT this year, with the
launch of Celebrity Solstice, our first ship with a converged data/voice
network and an enhanced in-stateroom entertainment system. This will
serve as a model for future ships and opens the door to a number of
exciting opportunities to enhance the guest experience.
Finally, we have implemented a number of key technologies across
the enterprise to further enhance our guest experience and reduce
operating costs. This includes enhancing the guest internet and tele-
communications capabilities onboard. These technologies also include
a consolidation strategy across systems, providing higher service levels
and at the same time reducing operating expenses.
Travel Agency Support and Direct Business
Travel agencies generate the majority of bookings for our ships. We
are committed to further developing and strengthening this very impor-
tant distribution channel. Our sales teams focus on the unique qualities
of each brand and provide support to the travel agency community.
The Trade Support & Service department, with branded call center
operations, further supports the travel agency community in deliver-
ing the cruise vacation experience. Cruisingpower.com continues to be
an industry-leading website exclusive to the travel agency community.
Over the past two years, the website launched a number of new online
tools designed to increase travel agent productivity and the focus in
2008 has been on increasing travel agents adoption of these tools. This
includes VIP CruisePass, a desktop alert designed to give travel agents
alerts to special offers, weather updates, itinerary changes and latest
news. EMarketing provides travel agents with a personalized link that
directs customers to a video magazine or cruise planner interactive
experience. EConnect is an online quoting tool that enables travel
agents to send up to five online quotes to their database with real-
time pricing and web-based functionality. In addition, Royal Caribbean
International continues to enhance its online training certification pro-
gram, “University of Wow,” where travel agents can now achieve up
to an expert-plus graduate level certification. In 2008 Celebrity Cruises
launched “Five Star Academy,” a travel partner learning suite featur-
ing five sequential modules. The modules cover from brand basics to
accommodations, amenities, and destinations.
In 2008, we completed several key enhancements to simplify the online
booking process via our new CruiseMatch trade booking tool based
on feedback from our travel agent partners. The second phase of this
investment will be launched in 2009 to offer additional functionality
such as enabling travel agents to make bookings in an existing group
block, as well as provide group insurance. Pullmantur and Azamara
Cruises were also incorporated into the online tool in 2008.
In 2008, we also launched a program directed to help support our
travel agents during the current economic downturn. The program,
Agent Support Action Plan (ASAP), includes multiple components to
help the agency community during this period. These components
include a one percent commission supplement on any cruise book-
ings made between January 1 and February 28, 2009 for sailings
from January 2009 through March 2010, increased co-op funding
for qualifying agencies undertaking significant marketing plans,
relaxed requirements to qualify for tour conductor credits which
will help agents earn more money while encouraging group bookings,
and an individual agent booking incentive through which agents can
earn a complimentary cruise.