Disney Cruise Business Robust Chugging Into Summer
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- The Walt Disney Co.'s fledgling cruise business has rebounded strongly since the post-Sept. 11 travel crisis, with business levels now ahead of the same time last year, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Those results are in line with the cruise industry as a whole, which has rebounded quicker than many expected as leisure travelers rushed to snap up a broad range of bargains that hit the market in the months after the Sept. 11 attacks, analysts said. "The cruise business bounced back stronger and more quickly than we anticipated," said spokesman Mark Jaronski. "Our business is really solid. ... For Disney Cruise Line, business is ahead of last year's level." Jaronski declined to say how much the cruise line contrib-utes to park and resort group profits, but added the percentage is still relatively small. He said there are no current plans to expand the business. Analysts said the upbeat trends for Disney's cruise lines parallel the in-dustry as a whole, with ship operators bouncing back more quickly since Sept. 11 than companies in the re-lated hotel and casino sectors. They attributed the difference to a strong comeback in leisure travel compared with much weaker trends for business travel. That trend has benefited cruise lines that are almost completely dependent on leisure travelers, whereas hotels and casinos depends more on a mix of the two types.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- The Walt Disney Co.'s fledgling cruise business has rebounded strongly since the post-Sept. 11 travel crisis, with business levels now ahead of the same time last year, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Those results are in line with the cruise industry as a whole, which has rebounded quicker than many expected as leisure travelers rushed to snap up a broad range of bargains that hit the market in the months after the Sept. 11 attacks, analysts said. "The cruise business bounced back stronger and more quickly than we anticipated," said spokesman Mark Jaronski. "Our business is really solid. ... For Disney Cruise Line, business is ahead of last year's level." Jaronski declined to say how much the cruise line contrib-utes to park and resort group profits, but added the percentage is still relatively small. He said there are no current plans to expand the business. Analysts said the upbeat trends for Disney's cruise lines parallel the in-dustry as a whole, with ship operators bouncing back more quickly since Sept. 11 than companies in the re-lated hotel and casino sectors. They attributed the difference to a strong comeback in leisure travel compared with much weaker trends for business travel. That trend has benefited cruise lines that are almost completely dependent on leisure travelers, whereas hotels and casinos depends more on a mix of the two types.