Our monthly Cruise Search reflects change in demand and online market share. U.S. online cruise search is estimated at 8.8 million monthly unique individuals for the month of September. Cruise Search shrank for the second consecutive month, both versus the prior month and September of last year. This points to continued weakening in online cruise search activity as the economic conditions faced by travelers have worsened.
| % Change for September '08 | ||
| vs Last Year | vs. Last Month | |
| Total Internet Traffic | 4.2% | 0.3% |
| Total Cruise Search | -6.1% | -3.3% |
Percentages in the charts below represent the approximate share of all online cruise traffic.
Chart 1 - % of traffic for top Cruise Lines from all cruise related traffic (click to enlarge)
Chart 2 - % of traffic for top booking sites from all cruise related traffic (click to enlarge)
There is word is that cruise bookings have declined further in October, and this is being reflected in last minute discounting of fares. Royal Caribbean posts earnings on Monday, October 20. It will be interesting to hear how it forecasts for coming quarters.
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