Chapter2.Preliminary knowledge of entering the cruise business Travel Conditions in the U.S.

Let's trace the historical background of the consideration of entering the cruise ship business and postwar America ("Prelude to the Cruise Era" and the postwar period when "new forms of travel" sprouted).
The "New Way to Travel" and Changes in the Travel Environment

1. Changes in domestic economic structure and the emergence of seasonal "stay-and- go" travel and "local" TV programs

The industrial base in the U.S. changed after the war, and the military industry grew significantly, especially in the Great Lakes cities such as Chicago in the southwest and the area around Pittsburgh, which is now known as the (Great Lakes) Great Industrial Zone.

The rapid growth of the urban population, especially the working class, changed their lifestyles and extended to vacations and travel away from the workplace. The increased labor participation of women during the war also drastically changed the income structure of families, and the new clientele, who now had more time and money to spend, differed from the prewar "hometown trips" and "family reunions" to visit family members and others. They chose a new form of "seasonal stay-and-go travel. Just like the German poet Goethe's "Trip to Italy" in the late 18th century, a group of winter travelers, called "snowbirds," emerged from the cold north, mainly in the Midwest, seeking the "sun and sea" of the south. In the southern islands facing the Caribbean Sea, besides sun and sea, they found new discoveries in environments different from their northern lives, such as the Carnival. Engraved by their own "staycation experience," they repeatedly visited and stayed in the region, becoming repeat visitors and a steady stream of travelers. Air travel expanded rapidly with the expansion of Pan Am Airlines and other route networks, and it was during this same period that long-distance travel was stimulated.

The 1960s ushered in the television era, and television programming was dominated by the leading television network ABC, in partnership with Warner Brothers (TV), with Hollywood-based "Sunset 77" (1958), New Orleans-set "Bourbon Street" (1959), and Bourbon Street" (1959), and "Surfside Six" (1960), which unfolded under the Miami sun, dominated prime time. These "local" TV shows, which focused on new "outdoor mobility-centric stories" set "on location," encouraged a new generation of travelers to explore new "destinations" around the country and abroad.

The development of domestic highways (promoted by President Eisenberg) brought the mobility of automobiles and large vans to individual and family travelers, and rapidly changed travel styles that had traditionally relied on "scheduled long-distance buses and trains. Route 66" (the highway from Chicago to Los Angeles), which before the war was known as "the road of immigrants" from eastern U.S. cities where immigrant ships made port calls, and after the war, where veterans' families and others moved in search of new jobs, was a TV movie (1960) based on events along this highway.

It was enough to make many Americans who had never seen the ocean imagine "warm, sun- drenched cities and the Pacific Ocean" ahead of them, and it stirred their interest in automobile travel. As cars became more and more common in the U.S., they became more and more common in the U.S.

Railroad companies such as Amtrak, which had been responsible for transcontinental railroads, were forced to withdraw from this business.

(2) Florida of the East and Las Vegas of the West  A trip to a "theme park" sojourn city

Rapid postwar changes in air and land transportation rapidly brought population centers and sojourning resorts closer together.

In addition to the traditional "summer summer resorts" of New England and Maine on the East Coast, people from Chicago, New York, and other cities expanded their choices of places to stay as "winter resorts," seeking beaches (and pools) during the day and casinos and shows at night, and spreading to the Southeastern states, including Florida, and the Caribbean.

This has led to a broadening of the choice of places to stay as "winter getaway destinations. In addition to the casinos of Kentucky and North Miami and Cuba, the new Las Vegas and other entertainment destinations, including casinos and shows, attracted more attention than ever before.

Due in part to the unrest in Cuba, money from pensions from transportation unions (Teamsters) and other pension funds, mainly from the Midwest, flowed into the emerging city of Las Vegas in the desert, helping the rapid growth of this emerging tourist destination and stimulating the hotel industry there with new and expanded super-large hotels.

Using their financial resources as a shield, the new hotels swept away the traditional idea of small-scale stay-and-go facilities and created a new business model as a large scale stay- and-go travel destination that was also loaded with casinos and shows.

In the 1960s, transparency in the casino business became an issue. Federal tax clampdowns and aggressive intervention by state authorities succeeded in wiping out the traditional "negative legacy" (mafia-controlled anti-skimming measures).

The entry into the casino industry of "entrepreneurs" such as Howard Hughes and Kirk Kerkorian, as well as various administrative measures against the casino industry by state government corporations, also encouraged the entry into Las Vegas by international hotel companies such as Hilton Hotels. Many of them believed that the future of Las Vegas lay in its development as a comprehensive entertainment city with theaters and many restaurants, outgrowing the "casino industry.

They aggressively marketed Las Vegas as a new type of tourist city where families could enjoy themselves and hold events, rather than the "casino industry" city it had been.

In the late 1960s, Las Vegas attracted star entertainers from Los Angeles and Hollywood, and the foundation was laid for a new theme park-type staycation with "casinos" and "nightlife. By this time, Las Vegas had become the healthiest and safest city in the world. This improved environment prompted the state of Nevada and the tourism authorities to expand the convention center's facilities, while private capital was used to build it. Hotels and other accommodations and healthy nighttime entertainment worked to attract events and travelers from all over the United States, and repeat visitor measures were strengthened to ensure further stable growth.

Like Las Vegas in the west, Orlando in the east (Florida) has been rapidly developing as a new staycation resort city (such as the "family staycation" Disney World).

This new resort city was expanding along the lines of a grand project based on the careful and long-term vision of the entertainment industry, Disney, which had been planned since around 1963, using pseudonyms and other secretive land acquisitions. 1971 saw the opening of "Disney World," etc. In 1971, a theme park-type city was born, complete with a huge family
amusement park and a stay hotel. (Adjacent Epcot Center: opened in 1982).

The management philosophy is to "pass on the joy of experiencing
Disneyland and other theme parks to the next generation and grandchildren. These cities will further expand their scope to include large-scale accommodations for general entertainment (amusement type), and they will become more and more "theme park cities".

(3) "Deregulation" of the aviation industry and the increase in aircraft size have brought about
Impact on the Cruise Industry

After the war, military aircraft manufacturers switched to building commercial airliners. Although overseas travel by air was not yet affordable to the average person, postwar Hollywood movies and TV programs stimulated many people's "yearning" for overseas travel and changes in their lifestyles.

U.S. airlines showed a steady increase in transatlantic travel, partly because lifestyle media such as fashion, which was still a new field at the time, promoted the convenience of traveling to Europe by air and new "travel packages.

Our sense of time has also changed dramatically. The flow of people across the Atlantic was shifting at a rapid pace from traditional liner travel to air travel.

On the Atlantic, Pan American Airways was competing with the luxury liners that connected Europe and the U.S. mainland by sea, selling a comfortable, well-serviced in- flight atmosphere.

The advent of Pan American's round-the-world flights (1947) and the British BOAC's first flight between New York and London (1958) with the Comet, introduced in 1949, convinced the world that the jet age had arrived. The North Atlantic shipping lines (connecting major ports in Europe and the U.S.)were also forced to withdraw from the North Atlantic shipping business, as they lost customers to jet airlines, which advertised the speed and convenience of "transportation and travel".

The "Queen Mary," the queen of the Atlantic and a representative of luxury cruise ships, also sought a safe haven in Long Beach on the west coast of the United States.

The first test flight of the so-called "jumbo" Boeing 747 in 1969 and the opening of regular air routes between major U.S. cities and major European cities by Pan American in January of the following year (1970) marked the arrival of the jet travel era and the transformation of the sky into the "mass transportation era. The air travel era was transformed into the "era of mass transportation" in the skies. The concept of market share and economies of scale in international travel gained ground, and this was a premonition of the explosive war to attract customers centered on the U.S. airlines.

Against this backdrop, the "deregulation" led by the Carter/Reagan administrations in the U.S. gave further impetus to the competition in the skies. President Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 on October 24, 1978, which was succeeded by President Reagan. In 1991, United Airlines took over Pan American's international flight rights, which had established an era as the leader of international flights in the U.S. airline industry, and Eastern Airlines, the leading airline on the East Coast, was absorbed by Delta Air Lines, Inc.

The airlines, as suppliers of services, needed to further develop new demand, and they were able to do so by introducing large individual contracts with large travel groups (including cruise companies) and by introducing volume pricing, etc., against a backdrop of more flexible pricing systems (computerization was promoted to achieve a variety of pricing) and an increase in the number of extra flights. The introduction of a customer loyalty system, including a frequent flyer system, helped the company to attract a customer base and secure a repeat customer base. In terms of operations, the company introduced the "hub airport concept," which calls for economies of scale and cost reductions.

The sudden change in the environment caused by deregulation of the airline industry has contributed significantly to the popularization of Caribbean cruises.

Cruise lines' new ways of dealing with airlines began to have an impact on their ability to attract customers from all over the United States. Cruise lines began to have a significant impact on cruise operations, especially in the Caribbean.

The cruise lines' new association with airlines has had a major impact on their ability to attract passengers from the U.S. and abroad.

For cruise lines targeting Caribbean "zones" (not equal to home ports), the problem became one of how to get passengers from their "home boats" (not equal to home ports) across the U.S. to their various home ports in Miami, a very important part of their logistics strategy. Home ports, such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale, receive millions of passengers annually who embark and disembark from cruises.

Many of them would be drawn from every year across the United States and would fly to the base port. The embarkation and disembarkation passengers were seen by the major airlines as a perfect "group traveler" for round-trip packages. For the airlines, the cruise lines were attractive customers because they had the habit of holding back the travelers, such as shipboard passengers and onboard employees, from booking in large numbers.

The cruise lines also exercised this "control of the air" wi, temporary flight contracts and arrangements for special bulk rates (bulk rates) and temporary charter flights, etc., to secure the "flow of people" boarding and disembarking from the ships. In cooperation with airlines, combined air travel became common, and many cruise lines built logistics that also involved airports, having in-house air ticketing systems and incorporating air fares into cruise fares.

(4) Cruise Ship Operators and the Flag of Convenience System

Just as nationality and other such matters follow individuals around, ships around the world also have nationality (ship's registry) registration.

Half of the merchant ships in service in the world today are flagged by countries that have adopted a flag of convenience system, rather than registering with their own country (the country of actual ownership), such as developed countries.

Countries that have introduced such a system include the Bahamas and Panama. The advantages of this system from the operator's point of view are

(1) registration tax and operational taxation (tax haven),
(2) fewer restrictions on unions, etc., and a variety of options for crew/employee assignments,
(3) flexibility in ship safety and facilities, and
(4) the ability to operate ships with a high degree of safety.

Cruise ship operations have two aspects: the nautical aspect of "moving the ship" and the service aspect of "taking care of many travelers on board. The former, from the perspective of nautical technology, can be solved as an extension of cargo ship operations, but the latter, the mechanism for "taking care of many travelers" (i.e., hiring many employees), is valuable because it determines travelers' evaluations, which in turn leads to the sustainability of the business.

The most competitive and diverse seafarers (licensed) and employees determine the quality of service on board.

To improve the diversity and quality of service, it is important to have a diverse service sector and a mixed workforce that draws on the national characteristics of each of the service sectors it serves and their respective characteristics.

Under the flag-of-convenience ship system, there is less interference and restriction from unions, etc., and large cruise ships can be competitive due to the cost reduction effect of the system.

Under this system, this aspect will also have a significant ripple effect.

Many travelers board cruise ships with expectations of the environment and services they will receive on board, but in order to respond flexibly and quickly to these expectations, the system itself must have a relatively free framework. The shipboard system is, in a sense, like a small city on the sea, and is built on human compatibility (with travelers), i.e., the right person at the right time. For this reason, it is necessary to have a mechanism to hire people who have the ability to meet the needs of travelers at any time, and this is where the key to success lies. One of the management hints for the rapid operation of this system was the adoption of the flag-of-convenience ship system.

Most of the cruises in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea were based on the "ship of convenience" method.

While most of the passengers served came from the U.S. market, the people providing services on board were "non-Americans," consisting of Europeans and Asians such as Filipinos, and this compatibility created a delicate accommodation space on board.

At the time, some U.S. travel agents filed lawsuits claiming that U.S. domestic laws (hiring Americans) should be applied to resolve shipboard accidents, but cruise lines could not abandon the advantages of the flag-of-convenience ship system.

On the other hand, under this system, by hiring the best staff from the international labor market, a service delivery system comparable to that of a domestic hotel in the U.S. was realized for the onboard system. In order to achieve this, communication between the ship's staff and the ship's passengers was essential, and the ultimate goal was to create a form of accommodation on board that would emphasize "English language skills" (since the majority of the ship's passengers were American, English was made the official language on board).

(5) Hollywood's "New Travel" Shape

Postwar movies and television programs are said to have changed the way Americans think about travel.

The introduction of the lifestyle of "traveling" in one's leisure time, playing the role of an aspiring star through the medium of movies and television transmitted by Hollywood, had a powerful impact on the American psyche.

We had entered an era in which the image of Hollywood stars enjoying their lavish holidays in Paris and London in Europe and in the luxury resort city of Palm Springs in Japan became the focus of family reunions through the successive publication of lifestyle magazines, television, and movies. This new lifestyle was synergistically stimulated by the experience of travel and fashion. It created new values of life.

New and unknown worlds were opening up in the conversation of the tea room. They unconsciously superimposed themselves on the events and romances in these movies and TV shows, and dreamed up new travel destinations (destinations and tourist attractions).

As a result of World War II, the eyes of the victorious Americans turned to Europe. Before the war, the film industry, centering on Hollywood, promoted overseas production using studios in London and Italy, partly because the high dollar at the time made it cheaper to film on location overseas than to build studios in the U.S., including labor costs. The number of people of that generation who admired the visual stage and theme
and the new sophisticated Italian and French fashion increased. While actively engaging in overseas location shooting. With advances in editing technology, new film techniques, mainly compositing studio and location films, seemed new to the general American audience.

To create this European atmosphere, she speaks English with a European accent. Actress Audrey Hepburn, who speaks English with a European accent, plays a major role in creating this European atmosphere.

She appeared in many new love stories set in Europe, and the music behind them, with big bands such as Gershwin and Mancini, added color. In 1953, Hepburn appeared in William Wyler's "Roman Holiday," which showed Americans not only the new lifestyle but also the importance of culture and history against the backdrop of the many ruins of Rome.

Eddie Albert, who later appeared in the film, told me that the plot itself was refreshing in its longing for the Europe of their ancestors, especially the historical landscapes and the discovery of a white society that was different from the American one. It was said to have opened the eyes of Americans of the time to European fashions.

He also said that this kind of stimulus pushed them toward a postwar consumer economy. Certainly, Audrey Hepburn was the spark that ignited the "Givenchy" boom that was later seen in movies such as "Charade."

Around the same time, other directors, David Lean and Katharine Hepburn, shot "Travels" (Summertime: 1955), which was set in Venice, and American women became increasingly attracted to Italy and other European countries.

There were always "love stories" involved, including Italian and French. Speaking of Italy, there was also Vivien Leigh's "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961). This was also a tale of sightseeing in Rome and a love story interwoven therein.

The special longing of Americans for Europe at that time was seen in the French boom of the 1960s, and Hollywood films could not tell a love story without France.

The American in Paris, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Sabrina the Beautiful, Death in Paris on a Rainy Morning, and Late Afternoon Affair excited many Americans, especially the ladies.

If you look across the Pacific Ocean, you will see the exotic Hawaii (which became the 50th state of the U.S. on August 21, 1959), which was thought to be a foreign country beyond, and "local" exploration TV programs such as "Hawaiian Eye" (1959) were also a big hit.

Speaking of Hawaii, movies were also stimulating the burgeoning number of West Coast visitors with "Blue Hawaii" (1961), starring Elvis Presley.) Love is a Many - Splendored Thing (1955), set in Hong Kong at a time when the Korean War had focused attention on Asia, is also said to have impressed American audiences with a world different from Western culture, albeit a new and different one, through American theatrical films. It is said to have made an impression on American audiences through American theatrical films as a new and different world.

The development from studio films to location films influenced the "007" series, which was adapted into films in the 1960s.

The Cold War spy wars were enough to open Americans' eyes to other countries.

The tension between East and West during the Kennedy era also helped, and films such as "From Russia With Love (1957)" and "Goldfinger (1964)" incorporated foreign culture and action into a new field that was different from the traditional Westerns and other films that dealt with the history of the American frontier.

The "foreign" setting attracted many fans. The Japanese location of "007 Dies Twice (1967)" gave American moviegoers an impression of Japan after the Tokyo Olympics as the "Rising Sun. NYK's Akita Maru was also in this film.

In the early 1980s, "Shogun" (starring Japan's Toshiro Mifune and Yoko Shimada), aired on NBC TV, was a big hit and stimulated conversation at American family reunions. Later, in 1986, "Gung Ho" (Japanese title: Assault on Japan Inc.), a comedy adaptation of "Japan-U.S. Cultural and Economic Friction" starring Michael Keaton, became a hit and instilled a prejudiced view of the Japanese in many Americans.

<Note>
At the time this film was a hit, NYK was beginning a feasibility study of the Crystal Cruise project in the United States.Picking up on the Hollywood films that stimulated the travel business during this period, we find the following.

(6) "Love Boat," the TV program that sparked the popularity of cruise travel

The TV show "Love Boat," which is enjoyed at after-dinner family reunions, has succeeded in instilling the romantic world of cruise travel in many people.

September 24, 1977. On Saturday at 10 p.m., ABC Television, one of the three major networks in the United States, aired the premiere of "The Love Boat," based on the 1974 book by Geraldine Sanders. This was the beginning of a series of romantic-comedy television dramas about Captain Stebbin and his crew and passengers on board the 20,000-ton, 640-passenger Pacific Princess of Princess Cruises Inc.
The series was produced by Aaron Spelling (producer, Charles Angel (1976-81).

One episode was broadcast each week as the series toured the ports of call on each cruise. Along with foreign ports of call, cruises made a strong impression on viewers as a new form of travel.

For the first seven years of its television run, the show remained as popular as The Ed Sullivan Show, the most popular show of its time.

Passengers were allowed to participate in this program, so much so that reservations were always sold out early. With the advent of this program, travel became more accessible to Americans.

The "Love Boat" series continued until the spring of 1986, using the major cruise ships of the time. It continued to be filmed on location and aired as a two-hour special on the ship.

The romance and the fun of life on a ship brought the show to the public, and the cruise was considered the "perfect vacation," a tradition that has been passed down through the generations by Americans ever since.

The impact of this show was enormous at a time when process reunions were centered on television. Princess Cruise continued to promote Gavin McLeod, who played the lead Captain Staving in the film, as a spokesman for the brand.

(7) Emergence of modernized vessels and technological innovations: Travelers' prioritizing "everydayness" and "immigration" as a form of travel

The "everyday environment" realized through the evolution of the ship's equipment, which is hardware, and technological innovations.

Improvement of air transportation, refrigeration technology, food improvement, etc.

In the prewar period, cruise ships were a means of transportation, and while there were pure passenger ships such as the Titanic in service, there were also many ships that carried a mixture of cargo and tourists.

As a means of transportation, emphasis was placed on transportation between two points (liner = liner), and the speed of ships was considered important, so much so that there was even competition over the number of days it took to make a crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

Since the 1960s, however, cruise ships have been transformed into cruise ships, which have a very different character.

Cruise ships are not all about destinations for transportation, but rather a form of travel that allows passengers to enjoy their own lifestyles on board while "cruising," staying as long as they wish, and enjoying the fusion of the sea and nature at their own leisure.

The priority was not on speed, as was the case in the great prewar competition, but on comfort, and more money was invested in the comfort of the ship.

When building a new cruise ship, the greatest attention is paid to noise, vibration, air conditioning, and ventilation on board, as well as to making the ship less prone to swaying. The technological innovations in this field are remarkable.

The development of new forms of travel is not independent of innovative developments in the equipment of the cruise ships themselves.

The way ships are operated has also changed dramatically.

In addition to the screw (as typified by controllable pitch propellers), bow thruster, and bot systems, the arrival of the IT age has enabled ships to be operated with a single joystick, making it possible to visit a variety of ports of call, and contributing to longer sightseeing time at those destinations.

As a countermeasure against rolling, even if it affects the speed, the introduction of fin stabilizers and other devices supports comfortable travel for cruise ship passengers.

For rolling (pitching), larger ships, especially captains, have become more important, and ships are now being built with lengths of 150 to 200 meters or more, which exceeds the maximum wavelength.

In order to make the daily lives of many travelers more comfortable, automated equipment for the disposal of garbage, sewage, and other combustible materials (to prevent marine pollution), as well as the most important safety equipment for the ship itself and a system that enables communication from any location, have been improved to a large scale.

The large amount of water and hot water consumed on board is unlimited, and the introduction of a desalination plant (seawater desalination equipment) that returns seawater to fresh water is sufficient to handle the large number of travelers and employees living on board.

The development of air-conditioning and other facilities has also had a significant impact on the comfort of a cruise.

Gone are the days of the "POSH" (Port Out (~Ward) Starboard Home: the shady side of the voyage) synonymous with the old British liner.

A wide variety of modern facilities have been introduced to allow longer-stay travelers to enjoy a more routine lifestyle.

Foodstuff management is the most important person, from the perspective of cruise ship passengers and employees living on the back of the ship, in order to sustain life on board, but there have also been significant changes in efficient transportation methods.

Many of the foodstuffs are now managed by modernized sounding boards with stockpiling facilities that can be stored on the ship for extended periods of time.

Wherever they are, travelers can now procure the foodstuffs they use on a daily basis. Improvements in air conditioning, refrigeration technology, and food improvements have contributed to the limited storage space on passenger ships.

Unlike the standard menu of a land-based hotel (with the option of eating out), dining on board the ship in a live-aboard environment offers passengers a wide range of choices, with hundreds of diverse menus at each onboard restaurant.

There is a main dining room where passengers can gather together, several specialty restaurants to suit every taste, and a Lido Café and Bistro for those who prefer to sleep in in the morning.

The entertainment environment is equally diverse, with public room facilities comparable to those of a resort hotel, including large and small theaters, nightclubs, large viewing lounges, conference rooms, computer rooms, beauty salons beauty salons, swimming pools, bars, lounges, casinos, and duty-free stores.

Rooms with verandas have emerged from the era of round windows (boat halls).

The bathroom is equipped with a Jacuzzi, and the picture window looks out onto the open sea. The more "choices" you have, the more convenient it is for a "self-indulgent" trip.

The cruise ship's life on board is quite busy and hectic, but the teak deck, where one can take a walk alone and enjoy the sea breeze, is the perfect environment for a change of pace.

Traveling on a cruise ship means "cruise ship passengers travel to a foreign country with their lifestyle, food, language, etc.

" and the national character of the passengers, who make up the majority of the ship's passengers, tends to dominate the food culture on board.

When traveling on land, for example, even in Paris, which is said to have an advanced food culture, many Americans have difficulty with the French menus served in Parisian restaurants and are anxious about what the food they are served looks like.

If the main market is American cruise ship passengers, they can order in English as if they were dining in a typical (albeit upscale) restaurant in the U.S., based on ingredients they see in their daily lives in the U.S., and be assured that the meal they envisioned will appear before their eyes.

It is important for American guests to be able to see and eat the foods they see and eat on the streets of their hometowns and on their daily tables, even if they travel by ship to faraway places such as the South Pacific or South America.

They may love the idea of cruising, but they don't want their daily life on board to be unusual, especially when it comes to food (along with the fact that on-board conversation is in English).

The beauty of cruise travel is that you can arrive at a new destination (port of call) while you sleep, take in the sights of the city without the need to unpack and unpack, and then return to the ship in the evening for a meal at one of the finest (if slightly more luxurious) restaurants you will find anywhere in America. Sometimes, you can even dress up in formal attire to make the most of the occasion.

After dinner, you can enjoy a moment of romance with entertainment similar to Broadway or a Las Vegas show, go to bed at any time, and find yourself back in port the next morning at a new destination.

(8) Transformation of the sales network and introduction of a "travel agent friendly" test drive system.

The deregulation of the airline industry had a profound impact on the distributor network, the travel agents in the U.S., and required changes in the mechanisms used by travel agents, which form the core of the travel product sales network, and in the way their staffs handle their business. The liberalization of airline fares has given travelers many choices, but many travel agents are still required to deal with the complexities of dealing with individual customers due to daily changes in airline fares, widely varying fares among airlines even on the same route, and the frequent flyer system introduced by each airline to retain travelers. This has required a complicated response to the needs of each individual customer.

Many travel agents were spending a lot of time dealing with small customers in airline ticket sales. According to a survey by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)at the time, it was so inefficient that it took around 45 minutes to make a single reservation. Rates were also falling and remaining low due to competition.

Moreover, the introduction of a new computerized system was essential to meet the fluctuating fee structure.
Later, the Internet was promoted, and from the mid-1990s, commissions paid to travel agents were capped, and commissions were drastically reduced. In other words, the airline ticketing business had become an
unprofitable business in terms of cost-effectiveness.

While capital investment was increasing with the introduction of new technology, the strength of small and medium-sized travel agencies, whose revenues continued to decline and whose sales network was like a storefront sales network between them and their customers, was rapidly declining. They tended to move away from selling only airline tickets to seeking travel products that sold better yields.

In response to a sales network bewildered by the radical changes in the business scene as a result of deregulation, American cruise ship operators attempted a number of new challenges through the formation of the Cruise Liners Association of America (CLIA). To avoid antitrust risks in the U.S., CLIA narrowed its focus to "expand the cruise market for its primary activities. With each new ship launch, the company began to stimulate the market by introducing, through newspapers and television, comparisons with other forms of travel, value, cruise fare structure, satisfaction after disembarkation, and "test drives" so that people could understand new forms of travel.

In addition, a number of promotions, such as "Cruise Vacation
Month" (Cruise Travel Month), were launched nationwide through major magazines and media outlets to raise awareness of cruise travel.

Many of these promotional activities were based on the fact that cruise travel is a very satisfying form of travel with "value for money" (a trip that is satisfying and pays for itself), and were marketed to the sales network as a "travel agent friendly" travel product that they could easily sell.

A mechanism was also introduced whereby booking with a cruise company was completed only through contact with the cruise company, as a new all-in "travel product" that integrated airfare in addition to the cruise fare.

For small and medium-sized inland travel agents, mom-and-pop travel agents, and the new consolidation-type sales networks that were trying to organize them, who were bewildered by the complexity of daily changing airfares and adrift in the changing times, the new product would free them from the complicated air ticketing process, bring the advantages of cruise sales to the forefront, and It also helped to open up a new customer base.

CLIA member cruise lines needed to create a nationwide audience to attract as many "first-time" cruise passengers as possible.

CLIA member cruise lines actively organized special "test cruises" for travel agents to provide a "cruise test-ride" experience for the contact persons at travel agencies.

Test drive" on their own ship

They hoped that upon their return home, they would tell those close to them about the differences between this form of travel and the traditional air travel.

They believed that "word of mouth" was the best way to penetrate the market for this form of travel. In fact, it was this kind of low-key activity, such as "test rides" by the staff of mom-and-pop travel agencies that raised the cruise company industry, that supported the cruise market in the years that followed.

Once these travel agents had experienced a test cruise, many of them gave high marks for their cruise trip satisfaction, and these travel agents began to promote their experiences to the customers ahead of them. The trick worked well, as the product to be sold had to be known first by the people who would sell it.

Moreover, the cruise product is not only about the destination of the cruise, but also about the "stay-and-go" experience during the extended stay onboard the ship.

The "onboard" portion of the cruise was very large, and getting mom-and-pop travel agents on board, who realize this, was essential for cruise promotion.

The onboard portion of the evaluation is closely related to the "satisfaction level" of the passengers. If the satisfaction level is high, passengers will return to cruise again. In other words, they become repeat customers.

Gradually, the mom-and-pop travel agents became even more enthralled with the pleasures of cruise travel.

They know cruise products well.

Because of their own experiences, they are persuasive in explaining them to the clients they have.

Unlike hotels on land, cruise ships are easily accessible through brochures and other information about the structural design of the ships on which they offer cruise vacations, and they have a clear system for accepting reservations.

Unlike hotels, rooms and other facilities are sold by appointment only, so there is no difference in image between a room with an ocean view selected through a brochure and a room with an ocean view when you actually get on the ship. You have to go there to see it.

The room assignment is different from that of a land-based hotel. The rooms can also be pre-selected (not so on the larger ships these days).

The fact that the rooms can be selected in advance (although this is not the case for recent large vessels), etc., has made it well known that this is a convenient and easy-to-sell travel product with few complexities for them.

The market for luxury cruises, such as those offered by Royal Viking, initially focused on cruise passengers who have been on many cruises (experienced cruisers).

The market was then competing with each other to increase the number of "repeaters," and to provide them with care and attention so that they would return to cruise again and again. In the case of luxury cruises, it is necessary to increase repeat customers by specializing in certain services. For this reason, the content of services and meals are more important than ever in the onboard environment. Differentiation of products on board, for example, was a focus of attention.

The luxury cruise market, which had been perceived as an expensive product, has many "repeat customers. (In addition, cruise fares were more expensive because they often included airfares, and travel agent
commissions, which were based on a percentage of the sales price, were much more lucrative than those on airline tickets alone.

Against this backdrop, travel agent networks gradually turned their attention to luxury cruises as they began to understand how the system worked.

By providing a system that allows passengers to make their next reservation while on board the ship, it is possible to automatically return onboard reservations to the travel agent as a commission.

From a practical standpoint, the onboard reservation system has made it possible for travel agents to make a single reservation in a matter of minutes instead of the several tens of minutes it used to take for a first-time cruiser and the 15 minutes it takes for a second cruiser.

(9) Due to the introduction of computerization and the distribution of credit cards Payment system speedy and simplified.

In the U.S., people generally did not keep cash on hand. And for Americans who were not in the habit of moving around with cash tucked into their bellies, "it was a system that allowed transactions to take place without the buyer having to carry cash." The expansion of the credit card system created a major change in the lives of "mobile" Americans. In addition, the basic design of the aggressive market expansion strategy of the credit card providers was closely tied to making it more convenient for American travelers to travel abroad.

Since the days of the western frontier, Wells Fargo and its fellow American Express had been issuing money orders and traveler's checks as part of their postal activities to compete with the U.S. Postal Service for the convenience of western immigrants.

After World War II, banks took the lead in introducing a "pay on delivery" system (bank cards), and in 1950, the Diner's Club introduced a credit card system within its own network of restaurants and other establishments. In order to improve the interstate flow of funds and convenience for travelers, American Express, which at the time was primarily engaged in the business of traveler's checks, designed its own system (1958) and, for the first time in 1959, introduced plastic cards (1959), among others.

This was an opportunity to expand the card network to overseas markets and to expand the markets of its suppliers (service providers) in order to expand the distribution of these cards.

As more and more travelers turned to Europe, the company made efforts to expand its market in Europe. Bank of America, a leading bank, introduced its own credit card (Bank Americard, VISA since 1977), and in the 1960s, Internet Bankcard, a company formed mainly by other banks, issued a bankcard similar to the Bank of America's. (MasterCard 1967). (MasterCard 1967).

In the 1970s, a system was being developed to allow Americans to travel with a single piece of plastic card. Computerized "Electronic Processing" contributed greatly to this management system.

Of course, American Express and other banks were also busy building their own networks in Europe and other travel destinations, and the distribution of American Express and other services expanded not only in Europe, but also in other parts of the world. Bankcard companies were also competing with American Express by forming alliances with banks in other countries and expanding their market reach.

This convenience of having the U.S. domestic system apply directly to international travel was well-received by U.S. travelers and created tremendous demand.

At the time, small and medium-sized mom-and-pop travel agencies, which were the network for attracting travelers from all over the United States, relied on checks and bank transfers for payment, but this credit card proxy payment system streamlined their accounting processes and simplified the accounting (payment) process for small and medium-sized company management.

The credit card proxy payment system has streamlined their accounting process and simplified the accounting process (payment) for small and medium- sized companies.

For cruise travel, which is a typical experiential travel product, the managers of small and medium-sized mom-and-pop travel agencies were able to obtain a high level of satisfaction from their own onboard experience ("I enjoyed this trip on the XX ship," "The trip was comfortable without the hassle of transportation," etc.) and travel satisfaction (statistically, cruise travel is rated "highly satisfactory" compared to other travel products). ) and travel satisfaction (statistically, cruise travel is rated as a "highly satisfactory travel product" compared to other travel products) by advertising (word of mouth) in the local community.

Moreover, the new travel customer-attraction system, which also eliminated the hassle of payment, was a far more attractive product than complicated airline ticketing.

(10) The World after the Plaza Accord: The "Weak Dollar" and the Diversification of Travel Styles

After the war, Americans began to enjoy traveling to new destinations such as Europe, helped by the psychological superiority (?) of the U.S. as a participating country. In the postwar period, Americans began to actively enjoy traveling to new destinations in Europe and other parts of the world, aided by the psychological superiority of the U.S. as a participating country, as well as by improvements in means of transportation, such as larger aircraft.

The islands of the South Pacific, previously known only through movies, have become more familiar to us through television in our televisions, and we have begun to actively stimulate the urge to visit them.

We are now turning our eyes from the narrow world of the U.S. alone to the wide global world. Once a movie hits the big screen, it is no longer so difficult to visit the land. It has become easier to go to Humphrey Bogart's Casablanca or to Hong Kong, as in the movie starring Jennifer Johns, but at the same time, it has become more painful to spend more than 10 hours on a plane.

It can be said that these travelers, especially the older generation who have found the long plane rides painful, have found the joys of staycation travel in the Caribbean and on the West Coast of the United States on a ship. Life on board in a stay-and-go resort-style environment. They have found that cruise ship travel is a form of "One Trip Two Vacation," in which they can visit new destinations while enjoying the style and comfort of a mobile cruise ship.

The weak dollar in the late 1980s also benefited cruise ship operators. American cruise ship passengers were not bothered by the currency disparity in foreign ports of call as long as they continued to live on board. Once disembarking from the ship, the local currency is used, but on board the ship, it is still a dollar society.

As a result of the relative weakness of the dollar against major foreign currencies, American passengers traveling to Europe found it cheaper and more convenient to travel on dollar-denominated cruise ships, where they could pay in dollars in the United States. 

The core of a cruise ship's service is largely based on the quality of the employees (crew), but for European employees working on cruise ships at the time, the "common use" of the dollar in relation to the currency of the home country of many employees, even though the dollar was relatively weak against the currencies of the major developed European countries, made working on board a cruise ship very attractive.

Working on board the ship, where they could receive Meanwhile, bashing began in the U.S., especially as Japanese capital began to make inroads into the area.

The Beverly Wilshire Hotel (E.I.E. International), famous for the movie "Pretty Woman," a boutique building on the hotel side, RODEO (Sogo), Universal Studios by Matsushita Electric, Sony's acquisition of Columbia Pictures, and Mitsubishi Estate's purchase of Rockefeller Center in New York acquisition of Rockefeller Center in New York, etc. were also notable.

(11) Business with the Baby Boomer generation in mind

Looking to the future, the cruise business held great promise from the late 1980s onward. This is because it was predicted that after 2006, the baby boomer generation, estimated at 76 million, would become the nucleus of the leisure and hospitality industry.

It was predicted that by the time this generation reaches the ripe old age, their income levels will have risen, their purchasing power will have increased, and they will have moved from an era centered on "goods" to one in which they seek "service value. They will seek the value of travel in the experiences they have while traveling ("experience value").

In particular, their lifestyle is expected to be that of the Rolling Stones generation: active, sociable, and eager to try new things. It inevitably encompasses comprehensive entertainment, as seen in the success of Las Vegas. The market was flooded with numerous surveys pointing out that there must be high expectations for a new style of cruise travel.

Introduction to the Cruise Era: The Cruise Business from the Operator's Perspective.

The World of Circumnavigating Cruise ShipsFrom Liner (Scheduled) Ships to Cruise Ships.

Let's look back 30 years ago in terms of the operation of cruise companies operating cruise ships and other aspects of "cruising" at that time. At that time, "cruises" were mainly concentrated into two types of "excursions".

The other was the round-the-world type, which targeted wealthy travelers and included visits to ports of call in Europe and Asia.

Let's look back 30 years ago in terms of the operation of cruise companies operating cruise ships and other aspects of "cruising" at that time. At that time, "cruises" were mainly concentrated into two types of "excursions".

The other was the round-the-world type, which targeted wealthy travelers and included visits to ports of call in Europe and Asia.

 (12)From liner type to cruise excursion type ships

In 1858, the British ship Ceylon (2000 tons) was the first "cruise liner," according to the opinion of noted American maritime historian Bill Miller. He points out that the ship, originally a liner between England and Egypt with no swimming pool or air-conditioned rooms, circumnavigated the Mediterranean islands to attract a more adventurous clientele during the low season for ship passengers.

At that time, liner ships (liners) connecting two points on a line were the norm in Europe and the United States, but in Victorian England, there were also passenger ships engaged in "regular" cruises to the main tourist destinations (major coastal cities).

Under the influence of German poet Goethe's "Travels in Italy" and the widespread promotion of the "Voyage of Rest and Recreation" in the 1890s, many people from England, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and other countries traveled to the Mediterranean and South America, seeking the sun, blue skies, and wide open seas.

The "Voyage of Rest and Recreation" has been widely advertised, and the number of voyages from England, Germany, the Netherlands, and France to the Mediterranean, South America, and other places in search of sun, blue skies, and wide open seas has increased.

However, they were still limited to a very few cruise ships. These cruise ships offered excursion-type services that were based on today's "zones" (sea areas) and were similar in concept to today's cruise ships.

But the facilities on board were said to be similar to those of regular cruise ships.

However, the facilities on board were not much more than a means of transportation. Moreover, the main market was for wealthy European travelers, such as the British, who had a lifestyle that allowed them to "take time off and enjoy the distractions".

Across the 20th century, the rapid development of the airline business with airships and small aircraft, or the entry of the k-mobile in North America, began a new form of "ethnic migration" through these means of transportation.

As a result, the strategic activities of the sea, especially maritime transport and naval activities, were gaining attention after the First World War.

Even between Europe and the United States across the Atlantic, not only logistics but also the flow of people was undergoing a major transformation.

In the early days, however, ships were generally passenger ships with some cabins attached to cargo ships for the purpose of transportation on certain regular routes, so-called cargo ships.

Especially in the Atlantic Ocean, which lies between Europe and North America, liner service between Europe and North America was established to some extent. Around the time of World War I, the European powers were competing for supremacy in the "Blue Ribbon Race," in which European nations competed for supremacy in terms of speed in circulating ships between Europe and North America.

The primary purpose of many of these freighters and liners was to transport wealthy ship passengers and to
bring immigrants and persecuted Jews from Ireland, Italy, and elsewhere to the U.S. Much of what happened on board the Titanic (46,000 tons, 270 meters long), James Cameron's film released on December 19, 1997, was typical of liner shipping at the time. Much of what happened on board the Titanic (46,000 tons, 270 meters long).

James Cameron's film released on December 19, 1997, was typical of liner shipping at the time.

Along with the few elegant "rich and famous" upper-class passengers (wealthy Westerners, Jewish capitalists, etc.) who lived in the upper deck cabins, the lower deck was filled primarily with Italians and Irish who were prevented from interacting with the upper-class passengers, and Jews who had fled Russia and other countries after World War I.

The lower decks were mainly occupied by "immigrants" to the United States.

Many of them disembarked at Ellis Island with a one-way ticket and were tested for trachoma and other diseases that were spreading in Europe. Even though they were detained for a certain period of time, they managed to dream of success in the new land of America.

JP Morgan, America's largest conglomerate, had its subsidiary, White Star, build the Olympia and Titanic (1912) at Harland Wolff Shipbuilding in England, shifting the focus from conventional passenger ships for speedy transportation to ships that were more "habitable" and provided ample food on board.

The company had them built at the Harland Wolff Shipyard in England.

These two ships were a departure from the conventional liner ships that competed for speed in terms of their size, which broke with conventional concepts, and in terms of their emphasis on "comfort" in transportation, which opened a new era in "travel by ship.

This was to open a new era in "travel by ship. Until World War II, NYK also had regular passenger liner service from Japan to Europe, China, and North America. After World War II, NYK operated only North American routes with the Hikawa Maru.

Some of these passenger ship routes were called "cargo lines" that could also carry cargo, but in those days, when airplanes were not developed, they were the only means of transportation for "ocean travel" or for immigrants to South America and other destinations. Such services were based on regular, point-to-point lines, i.e., liner services.

(13)Caribbean Cruises and the Birth of a New Clientele, the Snowbirds

The Caribbean region was a long-stay travel destination for wealthy Europeans (suzerain states) with time and money before the war.

On the other hand, Cuba, located 90 kilometers off the coast of Florida, embraced Americans as wealthy during the Prohibition era (1920s). At that time, the advertising slogan was "Cuba, the island next to Miami, where the sun shines brightly, the blue sea stretches endlessly, and the Spanish culture remains.

There is no shortage of alcohol, including rum." From this time, contacts were established between the Cuban government and the mafia, which would later develop into the casino business.

After the Castro regime came to power in 1959, diplomatic relations with the U.S. were severed, and many cruise lines bypassed Cuba to cater to the travel market as a supply source in the rich U.S., creating a business model that combined the U.S. base port with the tourist destination "zone" (Caribbean), while bypassing Cuba.

The company created a business model that combined the U.S. base port with the "Caribbean Sea zone" as a tourist destination, bypassing Cuba. (Despite the fact that it is not possible to call at "Cuba," which was the main attraction of the Caribbean Sea) Since the Spanish rule, the islands (Cuba), Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and other islands scattered like islands at the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, known as the "Pearl of the Antillean Islands," were well known to Americans and Western Europeans alike.

After World War II, however, the rapid development of airplanes and the accompanying expansion of the international air network by Pan American Airways and other airlines replaced airplanes for human transportation on the international side, including regular routes between Europe and the United States.

As a result, the Western winter resort-oriented vacation style was transformed into a "stay-and-go" resort vacation that "chased the sun and sea," and travelers in the Midwest, especially in Chicago, where winters are harsh, became "snowbirds" (seasonal travelers), seeking cruise trips to "stay-and-go" resorts in the South during the extremely cold winter months.

They formed a large wave of travel as "migratory birds".

Many of them, in their parents' generation, came to the United States from northern Europe, including Poland and Germany, seeking a new world. Some of them immigrated as Jews from the Soviet Union, where they were persecuted.

Later, with changes in the industrial structure of the United States, a great migration of peoples occurred from the East Coast and other coastal areas toward the interior, and these were the people who migrated to the Midwest.

Their second generation, many of whom were born in this Midwestern region of the United States and "never knew the sea" (e.g., U.S.-born Europeans).

Many of these immigrant generations admired the exoticism of the Caribbean and Latin America, a region that had inherited a (Catholic-influenced) Spanish culture.

The postwar economic boom in the U.S. had greatly changed the way people thought about leisure and long vacations in the U.S. They had a longing for a "beach-oriented" lifestyle. The longing for a "beach-oriented" vacation and the influence of the Havana and Las Vegas-style entertainment of the time, as enlightened by television and movies, led to a major shift toward "stay-and-go" travel in the form of theme-city resorts that included these elements. In this sense, the development of Caribbean cruises foreshadowed the development of the resort-style (stay-and-go) leisure industry in the postwar era.

In fact, it was extremely inconvenient for the "Snowbirds" to travel among Caribbean countries and islands other than Cuba, with which diplomatic relations have been severed. The Caribbean countries, which are considered America's "backyard," are a group of island nations that have been the result of complex conflicts of interest among European nations since the colonial period, and therefore, as tourist destinations, each had extremely distinctive and unique cultural and living environments.

But the infrastructure and logistics of these countries, such as Cuba, were It was too poor to accommodate the American snowbirds and American travelers who experienced the pleasures of a tourist destination. In addition to the inconvenience of inter- island travel by air for American travelers, each island lacked sufficient infrastructure, including accommodations, making it the most inconvenient tourist destination for snowbirds, and the least attractive in terms of entertainment and convenience of stay.

We also sought new destinations in the U.S. Virgin Islands , but they did not offer the variety and comfort of the previous Cuba. It was a good honeymoon destination, but it was still not appealing enough to enjoy a "hedonistic" sojourn there for an extended period of time.

Cruise shipping lines turn their attention to the multi-island Caribbean.

It can be said to have begun after World War II, when the British currency instability, including the pound sterling, caused European cruise ship and (intra-European) ferry companies, which were heavily dependent on the British economy, to abandon the British market and look to the huge consumer market in the United States as a new market for ship passengers.

The cruise industry in the U.S. was a "new market" for the cruise industry. In other words, the brightest days of the U.S. cruise industry began when European cruise lines turned to a new "destination market" (tourist destination) in America's backyard, the Caribbean Sea.

(14)Carnival Cruise...Selling "entertainment" & "comfort" on board with trips to the southern islands

U.S.-based cruise lines began to explore and service new types of vessels with more "rest and relaxation" elements and programs, shifting from traditional European cruises to sojourns with American passengers and
adding an element of entertainment (from 1960 to the 1970s, many of the companies that operated transatlantic cruises moored or scrapped their vessels). (Many of the transatlantic lines' ships were berthed or scrapped in the 1960s and 1970s. Of course, many of their customers were American.

Then, after the "Cuban Revolution," I met "Ted Allison," the founder of Carnival Cruise Lines, a Jewish- American.

Ted Allison, the Jewish-American founder of Carnival Cruise Lines, was the first person to take notice of the Caribbean's popularity among Americans after the Cuban Revolution.

The geographical location of Miami, in close proximity to Cuba, must have attracted his attention to Caribbean cruises. In 1966, Norwegian Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NCL, now Norwegian Cruise Line), the leading cruise line in the Caribbean at the time, shifted its focus from Bahamas (British territory) cruises to Caribbean cruises, starting with NCL's Sunward from Miami.

Allison, who was the agency manager of this NCL company, purchased the liner Marde Gras in 1972 and converted it into a cruise liner that combined Havana and Las Vegas-style interiors with onboard events (entertainment) to create an entertainment-oriented cruise ship that was in the nostalgic world of Cuba today.

We also incorporated strong colorful features and came up with a new business model for cruise ship services. The new concept cruise ship was converted to a new type of cruise ship and began offering excursions (cruises) in the Caribbean Sea. This was the launch of Carnival Cruise Lines.

Thus, it is undeniable that the benefits and effects of the Cuban Revolution are behind the growth of Caribbean cruises.

Cruise lines only needed to copy the sojourn-type facilities and entertainment that existed in Havana on board. To this, Carnival Cruise Lines, seeing the changing tastes of the American traveler, introduced converted cruise ships and operated them as casino-capable cruise liners.

At least the onboard accommodations and meals were up to American standards, creating a comfortable living environment for cruise ship passengers.

We have come up with a mechanism to tour around the U.S. while bringing in the American way of life as it is. The price was set lower than that of other mainland U.S. resorts and hotels, and the entertainment options were as plentiful as those in Las Vegas. By making the ship a "non-U.S. citizen" (a ship of convenience), the company was able to recruit a large number of foreign crew members (employees), pay more attention to service, and create a prototype of the Caribbean cruise ship that would compete on the basis of sales.

The concept is similar to the "complementary" system used in Las Vegas, where the cruise fare is relatively inexpensive.

Cuba was more of an entertainment urban publishing model built by the underworld, influenced by Meyer Lansky and others, but developed in the "underworld" by introducing a clear fee and expense system using safe cruise ships, without outside influence.

That is why it was built. This is said to be the first cruise ship to specialize in the Caribbean. The Allison company is now the basis of the Carnival Cruise Group, which handles 60% of the total U.S. cruise population. This new form of Caribbean tourism has changed the shape of sojourn travel.

<Note> The Cuban boom centered on nightclub-type entertainment and casino hotels was manipulated by Meyer Lansky, a Jewish mafioso who monopolized control of Cuba's tourism interests as a "tourism advisor" during the Patista regime. It was Meyer Lansky, a Jewish mafioso. From North Miami, he dreamed of the future of Cuba, located in the south, and envisioned making the country the "Monte Carlo of the Caribbean." At the time, U.S. travel agents were.

The following points were the focus of their promotion of the features
of aCaribbean cruise.

・ The "sun," the "blue sea," and the "shallow coastline full of white sand."

• A port of call with a diverse and varied cultural background.

•  Compared to other leisure and staycation type trips of the time, the "all-inclusive type fare", combined with the total cost of the trip, makes the price seem cheap and the payment simple.

•  To the Caribbean ports of call. As long as you go by ship, it is an extension of daily life in the U.S. and you can travel safely and without discomfort = safe (even though the ports of call are colonies under European sovereignty, you are in the U.S. itself on the cruise ship)

•  All dining and lodging experiences are an extension of American "everydayness". You can pass it off as the American lifestyle.

• East-to-west travel by air from island to island is nearly impossible, and land-based infrastructure is underdeveloped in many places, but as long as you travel by ship, you can visit many ports of call and countries in a hustle-free, relaxed environment.

The result. American tourists sought the islands for their climate, sea (due to differences in sovereign nations), and cultural differences, which made them attractive and popular with cruise passengers who were looking to spend less than a week in the islands.

Travel agency companies, which are the distribution system (sales network) in the U.S., began to reevaluate and appreciate the value of the Caribbean as a "visa-free" destination, as well as the simplified cruise fare system.

The Caribbean is now being reevaluated as a "visa- free" Caribbean destination.

In addition, the U.S. dollar instability (depreciation of the dollar) in the 1980s encouraged Caribbean cruises, as land-based travel in Europe and other major travel destinations was too expensive.

The "Love Boat" TV movie was also a major factor. Of course, in response to these changes on the U.S. side, Caribbean island nations formed a "tourism alliance" to actively promote cruises to the Caribbean in order to satisfy and increase the number of U.S. visitors, who account for 99% of the total number of visitors to the Caribbean.Based on 1986 statistics, new shipbuilding was expected to increase at a rate of 10% per year for the next five years through 1990.

Based on 1986 statistics, the new shipbuilding schedule was expected to grow at an annual rate of 10% during the five years through 1990.

Carnival Cruise Lines of America, Inc. has been responding to the rapid growth of its clientele by focusing on converted ships, but in an effort to overhaul its aging cruise ship fleet and get a head start on upgrading its fleet to meet the new era of cruise ship demand, the company is aggressively introducing large new ships (super ships with a capacity of 2,000 or more passengers) Announced.

In 1982, the company introduced its newest ship, the Tropicare. After that, from 1985 onward, the company introduced a series of large ships (less than 50,000 tons), including the Holiday, Jupilerie, and Celebration, which were large for their time. In conjunction with the introduction of these new ships, Carnival introduced the actress Catherine Lee Gifford, who had signed a contract with Carnival, to the forefront of its marketing efforts to raise "market awareness" through television and other means. Carnival Cruise Lines' actions stimulated other companies, such as Royal Caribbean Cruises, to introduce new ships to the Caribbean cruise market, and with the introduction of new ships, the market began to expand rapidly.

The transformation of travel style, or the basis of stay-and-go travel, was not only in Las Vegas, but also in Florida, as seen in the case of Orlando, where Disney World was developed, which became a theme park and a combination of entertainment and the stay-and-go hotel industry.

Cruise ships were also actively adopting this change as a "theme park" concept, and were beginning to focus their wisdom on the variety and enrichment of onboard products. In order to meet these needs, cruise ships naturally began to pursue economies of scale by increasing in size.

In the late 1980s, Caribbean cruise lines were seeking economies of scale, both in terms of cruise ship passenger needs and profitability, and were about to enter an era of mergers and competition among cruise lines.

In addition, the cruise ship business in the Caribbean is evolving from a line connecting points (ports) to a leisure industry targeting "zones (sea areas)".

From an operational standpoint, Caribbean excursion cruises have learned that they must always keep in mind the competition, both in price and in cost, with the stay-over hotels that have developed on land in the Caribbean islands and cater to the American clientele that spends a lot of money, in order to compete with these hotels.

Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruises followed the path of popularization (with the aim of reducing operating costs) and the shift to larger ships. In this market, if cost competition is pursued to its ultimate goal, large vessels will eventually become indispensable.

(15)Visa problem

Caribbean cruises were supported by "visa-free travel" (no need to carry a passport) for American travelers.

Traditionally, the U.S. government has allowed travel to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean nation of Panama without a passport, as long as the traveler has a driver's license or birth certificate the same method was allowed for Canadian, Mexican, and Bermudian nationals entering the U.S.

However, since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, there has been a shift toward strict checks on entry into the U.S., and the Bush administration eventually mandated the carrying of passports as a general rule from January 2007.

The Bush administration eventually made it mandatory to carry a passport in principle from January 2007.

(16) Emergence of round-the-world cruises

Cruise ships that traveled around the world with a narrowly focused clientele were also beginning to take root.

This was due to a number of factors, including the rapid increase in the number of leisure travelers, including the wealthy, who were supported by the strong postwar dollar; the rapid growth of "local Hollywood movies" in Europe and elsewhere during the 1950s; the penetration of television, credit cards, and streamlined systems such as computerized reservations.

The most influential of these was the deregulation of the airline industry during the Carter-Reagan era.

This deregulation, as seen in the introduction of jumbo jets, led to larger aircraft and lower fares, and made it easier than ever before to package cruises with air travel and to transport passengers to and from cruise ships that traveled far from the mainland US to foreign destinations.

The pattern of flying to the destination, enjoying the cruise, and then flying back is beginning to take root.

Airline fares have diversified, making it less difficult and expensive to fly U.S. travelers to destinations around the world.

In the U.S. capital, so-called early cruise liners emerged, mainly serving passengers who used these old liners for "rest and relaxation" vacations. On the U.S. West Coast, in 1965, Seattle entrepreneur Stanley McDonald launched Canadian Pacific's then Princess Patria, which operated between Vancouver and Alaska, with seasonal sailings to California and the west coast of Mexico.

This would become the original Princess Cruises Inc.

(17) Development of Norwegian cruise companies

In 1970, Royal Viking Line, a three-owner Norwegian-owned company, was seeking a completely different business model from that of Carnival Cruise Lines.

The company had three luxury ships, Star, Sky, and Sea, which were designed to offer a different kind of luxury service than the traditional Caribbean cruises, targeting the affluent segment of the U.S. market.

This company focused on the luxury market, differentiated itself from the Caribbean cruise lines, sought a worldwide region of service, and sought a round-the-world cruise.

This was the introduction of the "Air + Cruise" concept, where cruise ships would travel around the world and call at a variety of ports, but the trip would be 10 to 14 days in length, and cruise ship passengers would be transported to and from the ports of call by air. Royal Viking Line is a new destination (port of call) in the world.

And also sought to differentiate themselves by enhancing onboard services. Some cruise lines that tour the world have begun to build new generation cruise ships, and differentiation among cruise lines has begun.

Through alliances with airlines, a variety of segment cruises are now available, allowing passengers to embark on a cruise ship while on their way around the world.

In this luxury market, the British-owned Cunard Corporation, which operated a classic liner service between two points, offered transatlantic service on its Queen Elizabeth II and other conventional liners. In order to survive, they integrated their air fare and cruise ship services through a partnership with BOAC, an airline company, for return trips in 1973. As a result, it did not last long.

Later, in 1983, Cunard, which owns the "Queen Elizabeth II," acquired Norwegian American Line's "Vista Fjord" and "Saga Fjord" and took over from Royal Viking Line, Carnival Cruise Lines, etc. and differed from the Caribbean-oriented type.

The company decided to avoid specializing in any particular region, and to develop a seasonally oriented cruise ship operation aimed at the round-the-world luxury market, particularly in Europe and elsewhere.

The world of luxury cruise liners has shifted from a "point-to-point" liner operation to an era of leisure cruise liners with a global stage, wider ocean coverage, seasonal dependence, and excursions.

A couple of key pillars of their success, to cite a few words of wisdom gained at the time, was to do business in the U.S., the cruise line's main market, but to locate the company providing the service outside of the U.S.
(Flag-of-convenience principle). This should establish the basis of the service industry's original (expected to have a more competitive effect) operations as a "free" and "expeditious" system.

Since this business is greatly influenced by the individuality and diversity of its people, it is necessary to attract and hire the world's most talented people in each field (management team, sales and operations including customer attraction, hotel management on board, various purchasing departments, supervision at ports of call, etc.).

Management policy as a cutting-edge company and the importance of "corporate efforts to always aim even higher" in setting up sales channels to attract customers.

The following is a summary of the results of the survey.

This transformation of the cruise ship industry began in the 1970s, and in the 1980s, with the rapid increase in the number of leisure travelers and the deregulation of the airline industry, there was a noticeable trend toward package pricing, differentiation of onboard services among cruise ship operators according to their target clientele, diversification of regions served, segmentation of travel periods, and introduction of new ships based on new concepts to suit different lifestyle groups.

In addition, the introduction of new vessels based on new concepts and tailored to "clientele" based on lifestyles has become more prominent. In other words, we had entered an era in which conventional old ships and cargo ships could no longer provide this service.

Leisure- focused markets, clientele, and new needs were demanding cruise ships that could fulfill the objectives of new, extended-stay travel.