Long Interview with Hervé Gastinel in La Libre (Belgium)

[AussieBoyTX]

There was a long interview with Hervé Gastinel published in the Belgian newspaper, La Libre over the weekend. It's a long article, unfortunately behind a paywall & in French. Here are some highlights:

 

 

• COVID has permanently changed cruising (in come cases accelerating trends Ponant had already identified. There is a need to travel better instead of traveling more. This drives the Explore to inspire strategic plan, explore to inspire, understand, learn and share.
  • First is the ecological footprint of the cruises -- make cruising a clean mode of travel, respectful of the environment. This includes emissions, recycling, wastewater treatment and more.
  • Second is content -- increasing passenger enrichment eventually arriving at 1-1 passenger crew ratio and offering discovery & sharing through naturalists, expedition leaders, guides & culture speakers.
  • Third is internationalization -- less French and more oriented towards other nationalities. Outside the Covid period, Ponant carries 70 to 80,000 passengers per year, first Americans (45%), followed by Europeans (40%) and Asia-Pacific (15%).
• The war in Ukraine has limited repercussions, aside from rerouting cruises in Black & Baltic Seas and Arctic. Ponant has a dozen Ukrainian staff members.
• Fuel prices are an issue. The company has decided not to raise rates this year, but anticipate a 5% increase next year. This emphasizes the benefits of e.g. Le Ponant.
• Ponant has about 2,500 sailors and nearly 600 people on land

 

https://www.lalibre.be/economie/entreprises-startup/2022/05/21/la-guerre-en-ukraine-nous-a-obliges-a-repositionner-certaines-croisieres-qui-passaient-en-mer-noire-baltique-et-en-arctique-russe-S6K5AQF3SZBIFOA7G7FFOYS4HY/

Edited May 23, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks much for the highlights. Very interesting.