Riding the comeback wave this year are cargo pants, vinyl records and… cruises?
What happened: Three of the world’s biggest cruise lines have rounded out the top ten performers in the S&P 500 so far this year, alongside tech giants like Nvidia, Meta, and Tesla.
- As of writing, shares in Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian have jumped 123%, 110%, and 76%, respectively, since the start of the year.
Catch up: Cruise stocks fell by about half their value in 2020 as the pandemic forced travellers to stay home and companies to take on massive piles of debt to stay afloat.
- You might even remember one of the earliest mass outbreaks of the pandemic occurred on a Japanese cruise ship, with over 700 people contracting Covid in January 2020.
Why it matters: Cruises have been buoyed by the broader rebound in travel post-pandemic, and the industry is investing heavily in upping capacity—the number of cruise berths worldwide is expected to grow almost 20% by 2028.
- Royal Caribbean has put ~US$2 billion into building the world’s biggest cruise ship, a 1,200-foot vessel named the Icon of the Seas that boasts 20 (not a typo) decks and the largest-ever onboard waterpark.
Zoom out: The industry has also benefitted from skyrocketing prices for airfare and hotels that have pushed a new, younger generation of travellers to consider cruising for the first time as a more affordable alternative.—LA