As the sweltering days of July fade away and we transition into a new season, Anthony Hamawy, president of Cruise.com, reflects on the tumultuous month that just passed. Despite being only mid-August, July seems like a distant memory for Hamawy, who meticulously keeps a journal to track correlations between recent events and booking volumes. Unfortunately, July was no walk in the park for Cruise.com, with a series of challenges that tested the resilience of the cruise industry.
One of the biggest hurdles faced by Cruise.com in July was the change in how businesses display pricing, driven by a California law aimed at tackling hidden fees. The law, which came into effect on July 1, mandated that retailers include all taxes, fees, and additional costs in their advertised prices. As a result, cruise lines had to adjust their pricing not only in California but across the entire country. However, the transition was far from smooth, with technical glitches plaguing multiple cruise lines and leading to a decline in bookings. Hamawy laments, “Things like that never go smooth. They just don’t.”
Adding to the complexity of July was the Fourth of July holiday, a time when bookings traditionally slow down as people focus on spending time with their families and friends rather than planning travel. The combination of regulatory changes and a holiday lull created a challenging environment for Cruise.com and the cruise industry as a whole.
The month of July was further marred by Hurricane Beryl wreaking havoc in the Caribbean and Texas, important drive markets for Cruise.com. Additionally, the attempted assignation on former president Donald Trump and the CrowdStrike global outage added to the uncertainty and disruption in the travel industry. These events, coupled with the development of another tropical storm that escalated into Hurricane Debby and made landfall in Florida, further slowed down business and impacted Cruise.com’s key markets.
Staying Optimistic
Despite the challenges faced in July, Anthony Hamawy remains optimistic about the future. The cruise industry has been robust for the past 18 to 24 months, and travel advisors have reported exceeding their cruise booking expectations for the year. While July was a tough month for Cruise.com, Hamawy sees the resilience of the market and the strength of the cruise industry as reasons to remain positive moving forward.