Amid Skyrocketing Demand Royal Caribbean Seeks to Hire Thousands of Employees
Icon of the Seas (left) docked at Perfect Day at CocoCay next to Vision of the Seas (right).
Royal Caribbean is recruiting workers from markets worldwide to fill roles on its ships and in its private destinations.
The ramped up recruiting effort comes as the cruise company experiences record demand from travelers for cruise vacations, according to Reuters.
In 2023, a record number of people took cruises and that reality is driving the need for ever great numbers of staff members. Royal Caribbean’s bookings also reached record levels in the first quarter of this year. The demand pushed the company’s quarterly revenue to $3.73 billion. That’s an increase of 29 percent.
Both tourism boards, port operators and the cruise company itself have all confirmed that about 10,000 workers need to be hired this year and the recruiting will take place worldwide.
As of the end of last year, Royal Caribbean employed about 88,700 people on its cruise ships, which was about 6 percent less than 2022, per the company’s annual filing.
On the land-side, Royal Caribbean employed about 9,500 employees in 2023. That figure was a 17 percent increase over 2022.
“The recruiting strategy follows the business strategy of moderate capacity growth,” a spokesperson said, per Reuters
One of the areas where Royal Caribbean is actively recruiting is The British Virgin Islands. Natasha Chalwell, BVI Port Authority marketing director, confirmed as much.
Royal Caribbean also reached out to The Gambia Tourism Board in April seeking to hire workers, a cruise company spokesman confirmed for Reuters. The cruise company already employees about 700 people from Gambia.
As TravelPulse previously reported, Royal Caribbean Group had an “exceptional year” in 2023. And the company fully expects 2024 to be just as good as travelers continue to pick cruises over land-based vacations, according to Jason Liberty, the company’s president and CEO.
In 2023, the company brought in $13.9 billion in total revenue, with a net income of $1.8 billion, or $6.31 per share. It reported adjusted net income of $1.8 billion, or $6.77 per share.
The cruise company also recently launched a new social media content platform for travel advisors. Called Rallio, the free tool was created to help travel advisors boost their social media presence. It offers ready-to-use content developed by Royal Caribbean’s trade marketing team.