MSC Cruises announce a 35% growth for the current season

"The consistent growth in this sector is testament to cruising remaining one of South Africans best value and favourite holiday choices in these tough economic times," noted Allan Foggitt of MSC Cruises SA.

"The current rand exchange rate versus the dollar and euro makes a local cruise a popular holiday choice. Travellers get 'a taste of the Mediterranean', but at a fraction of the price, with cruises starting and ending in either Durban or Cape Town. On-board, all meals, entertainment and a variety of destinations offer an exciting viable and exciting holiday option and the fact that children under 18 cruise for free makes it a number-one choice for families."

With an extended season on what has rapidly become a SA favourite, the MSC Opera continues to see strong sales with 76% of the season sold, and a growth of 63% nett revenue.

The Portuguese Island cruises remain the most popular with ongoing MSC investment into the islands infrastructure to improve the destination and the passenger experience. The four-night mid-week cruises have this season outperformed the previous season's offering due to aggressive pricing, which offers exceptional value.

Madagascar a huge success

The MSC Sinfonia has a shorter season in 2013/14 with fewer Cape Town departures, but has experienced a greater demand with 87% of the season currently sold. The Namibian destinations continue to prove popular and the seven-night cruises to Madagascar introduced for the first time this season have been a huge success.

MSC Sinfonia remains a popular choice with many four-berth cabins catering for the families and a business centre which makes it attractive to the business sector for conference, incentive and product launches.

Overall, the cruise season has had a 35% growth in net revenues, a 26% growth in passenger numbers, and is 50% ahead of last year at this time, making the target of 130 000 passengers for the season an achievable one.

A cruise on board either MSC Opera or MSC Sinfonia appeals to a large sector of the South African public traversing the economic, gender, race and age lines. A cruise holiday means different things to different people, catering to everything from business to holidays, honeymoons to seniors and everything in between. Cruising still promises the best holiday value with accommodation, meals and entertainment all included in the fare and kids under 18 travelling free.

For more, go to www.msccruises.co.za and www.facebook.com/msccruises.southafrica