Could cruise market down turn boosts demand for quality Holiday Cottages?

The recent disaster of the sinking of the Costa Concordia has done a massive damage to the Cruise industry which will take years to recover. Carnival the Cruise operator who owns the stricken ship also has over 100 more vessels and it is suffering. Their share value has dropped knocking £750,000,000 off the value of the company. It is also likely to drop even further when the real issues of this disaster start to emerge and compensation claims start to escalate.

Many passengers and potential customers of the Cruise industry have had their confidence shattered. Many changes will have to take place which will result in higher operating costs and in turn get past on to customers in higher holiday costs.

As the investigations in to this disaster unfold there are some important questions which need to be addressed.

Are the crews of these ships trained well enough to deal with a major problem which involves the lives of 1000’s of people?

Have the designs of these vessels been compromised to save money?

The damage to the hull of the Costa Concordia represented about 8% of the hull under the waterline and it sunk. Should water tight compartments be further segregated to improve safety?

Is the construction of the vessels below the waterline strong enough to take the impact of hitting obstructions?

Is too much emphasis being placed on the Captain to act as a public relations expert attending cocktail parties, onboard weddings with the result that important safety issues are taking a lower priority?

All of a sudden holidays on land such as cottages and lodges have a new attraction with the advantage of being in control of your own destiny. The Cruise market has been buoyant with customers in a financial sector who can afford to pay for the best. It is clear that in the next months many will be looking for alternative holidays and a quality cottage will have a major attraction and the Cruise industry may have lost them for ever.