Zoom Cocktail Hour with Simon Palethorpe, president, Carnival UK (P&O Cruises & Cunard)

Clear seas on the horizon…

Retail Insider, in partnership with novomind, held its latest ‘Zoom Cocktail Hour’ with Simon Palethorpe, president, Carnival UK (P&O Cruises & Cunard) who gave insights into how Carnival UK has dealt with Covid-19 and is building for the future.

With ships stranded around the world, with thousands of passengers and staff aboard, it was a major challenge dealing with the immediate impact of the pandemic and Simon cited some of the tough decisions he has had to take over the past year-and-a-half as a result.

He shared insights into how the company has adapted its model with how it takes bookings and its greater adoption of technology on-board the ships in order to ensure queues will be largely eradicated at former pinch points. He sees huge opportunities in this area.

Senior executives from the likes of Waitrose, Tesco, Ribble Cycles, Barclays, Chester Zoo and Laithwaites Wines heard how Carnival UK puts together some of the themed cruises that can incorporate many unique experiences for passengers.

Although Simon acknowledged it was a tough period during Covid-19 for the industry he is optimistic for the future as bookings in 2021 highlight the resilience of its existing customer base and just as appealing is the evidence that bookings for 2022 include many newcomers to cruising.

Retail Insider would very much like to thank Simon Palethorpe for sharing his experiences and insights and also to novomind for its much valued support of this latest series of Retail Insider

Glynn Davis, editor, Retail Insider