According to a senior representative of the cruise industry, cruises represent too good value for money. The chief executive and chairman of Royal Caribbean, Richard Fain, was speaking at the World Travel Market when he made this remark.

He told delegates that the economic turmoil through which the world has been going has negatively affected the cruise industry and that it is not recovering fast enough.

He went on to say “The value proposition is so great and, when people understand that, our business grows exponentially. We need to do better at getting that message out.”

He also said that he would like to rectify the situation. His company is making it way back after the recession, which shows the inherent strength of the industry. Royal Caribbean Cruises should, however, be ‘orders of magnitude’ further than it is currently, in terms of profit and revenue, if it was able to get the message out more effectively.

Royal Caribbean will be the choice of 1.5 million first-time cruisers in 2011, which is only a fraction of the potential number of cruise passengers worldwide. According to Fain, less than 20% of Americans have taken a cruise so far. In the UK this figure is even lower, at less than 15%, and on the continent the percentage was “infinitesimal.”

The company manages brands such as Azamara and Celebrity Cruises. It has been steadily improving its non-US market penetration and Fain is particularly impressed with the response of the UK market.

Does that mean we can expect even better value for money in the future Mr Fain?