{"id":22244,"date":"2017-11-14T14:04:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T19:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/surf-or-sink-royal-caribbeans-digital-challenge\/"},"modified":"2017-11-14T14:04:20","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T19:04:20","slug":"surf-or-sink-royal-caribbeans-digital-challenge","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/surf-or-sink-royal-caribbeans-digital-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Surf or Sink: Royal Caribbean\u2019s Digital Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The cruise industry has been surfing in very profitable waters for the past years. Projecting 25.8 million tourists to go onboard cruise ships in 2017, the Cruise Lines International Association currently expects capacity to increase by more than 4 times by 2025 [1]. For Royal Caribbean International, one of the three major cruise line companies in the world, this success story is reflected on its stock [2]. Since November of 2012, its stock price has increased by more than 200% [3]. Going against most industries, the cruise ship business hasn\u2019t created much technological innovation but for amenities improvements since the times of the Titanic. Therefore, why should Royal Caribbean innovate in an industry that is expecting great growth and doesn\u2019t technically need to cannibalize itself? The reality, however, is that the 21st<\/sup> century\u2019s digitalization revolution is set to bring lasting changes in every industry-especially those that are not ready for it. Changes in supply chain management, in addition to disruptions in the vacation industry, are expected from different applications and virtual reality technologies. With increasing competition and regulations, Royal Caribbean shouldn\u2019t be surprised if the growth projections don\u2019t become true. In order to prepare against these threats, the Miami-based company recently announced that it has been investing in technologies that will help it better manage its floating cities [4].<\/p>\n

According to one of its most recent press releases, Royal Caribbean is preparing a wave of revolutionary digital innovations, which will be \u201cmost visible to consumers through a guest-empowering app that will blanket the company’s 48-ship fleet over the next two years, the surge of innovation will also banish check-in lines at ports, equip crew members to anticipate guests’ needs, and enable giant cruise ships to sail through the water on a fuel-saving curtain of air\u201d [4]. With a 19% operational margin, Royal Caribbean surely has space to improve its cost structure [5]. Since the whole beauty of this business goes around the management of an incredible supply chain to keep this gigantic metal city floating, the technologies announced can come in hand. With a more intuitive app and website, for example, commission costs, which represent 27% of total operating costs, can drastically decrease as middle men (such as travel agents) can be cut from the supply chain. Furthermore, food costs, which represent 10% of operating costs, can have its supply chain optimized once Royal Caribbean uses its Big Data information provided by its drinks and food ordering app [5].<\/p>\n

However, in order to be better prepared for the digitization disruptions, Royal Caribbean cannot be a follower of trends. It must move forward and be a disruptor in the entertainment industry. The applications and technologies mentioned above are reactions to the ones we already see in the market. Other innovations such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technologies will most likely transform the entire industry [6]. Even though Royal Caribbean has mentioned its intend to invest in such area, it will have to most likely cannibalize some of its businesses with something beyond ordinary [4]. While we still don\u2019t have a precise idea of the dimension of the VR revolution, there are some ideas that Royal Caribbean can develop. For instance, it can invest in historical Augmented Reality tours for its destinations. Imagine, for example, a tour in 1500\u2019s Venice or 800\u2019s Chichen Itza. Surely, that would cannibalize its traditional excursions, but would also disrupt the entire supply chain of tourism services. Furthermore, it would put the company in the vanguard of this revolution, thus making sure it doesn\u2019t have the same fate that Kodak had in the photography industry. Furthermore, with the development of its applications\u2019 Big Data and innovative technologies, Royal Caribbean will be able to optimize supply chain costs much beyond food and commissions. Optimization of labor costs, in addition to sensors that can improve energy and fuel expenses, could be expected as medium-term results of these innovations.<\/p>\n

As Royal Caribbean gets onboard of the digital revolution, many questions still float around the company. How will Virtual and Augmented Reality impact the cruise industry or, more broadly, the entire entertainment and tourism economy? With changes in consumer tastes, new regulatory burdens, and margin pressures, how will digitization optimize cots for cruise ships? However, more importantly, will cannibalization from new technological developments and supply chain improvements protect Royal Caribbean from the powerful virtual entertainment torpedo? Or will only luck prevent it from sinking?<\/p>\n

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[1] \u201c2017 Cruise Industry Outlook\u201d, Cruise Lines International Association, 2016, https:\/\/www.cruising.org\/docs\/default-source\/research\/clia-2017-state-of-the-industry.pdf?sfvrsn=0<\/a>, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[2] \u201cCruise lines 2017 Q3 Breakdown: Record Revenue, Strong Ticket and Onboard\u201d, Cruise Industry News, November 13, 2017. https:\/\/www.cruiseindustrynews.com\/cruise-news\/18104-cruise-lines-2017-q3-breakdown-record-revenue-strong-ticket-and-onboard.html<\/a>, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[3] Royal Caribbean historical stock price, via Bloomberg LP, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[4] Royal Caribbean. \u201cThe frustration-free vacation is arriving on Royal Caribbean\u201d. Press Release, November 7, 2017. http:\/\/www.rclcorporate.com\/investors\/press-releases\/press-release\/id\/1334\/<\/a>, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[5] Royal Caribbean. 3Q 2017 Quarterly Report. http:\/\/www.rclcorporate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/RCL-6.30.2017-10Q.pdf<\/a>, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[6] Segal, Tobey. \u201c5 Virtual Reality Travel Experiences That Are Almost As Good As The Real Thing\u201d. Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler. <\/em>June 22, 2017. https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/story\/virtual-reality-travel-experiences-that-are-almost-as-good-as-the-real-thing<\/a>, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Royal Caribbean will have to reinvent itself in order to compete in the art of cruise ship supply chain and tourism operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9978,"featured_media":22248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[2116,3465,3466,1681,306,138,2080],"class_list":["post-22244","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-augmented-reality","category-cruise","category-cruise-ship","category-ship","category-tourism","category-travel","category-virtual-reality","hck-taxonomy-organization-royal-caribbean","hck-taxonomy-industry-tourism","hck-taxonomy-country-united-states"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2017\/","yoast_head":"\nSurf or Sink: Royal Caribbean\u2019s Digital Challenge - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/surf-or-sink-royal-caribbeans-digital-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Surf or Sink: Royal Caribbean\u2019s Digital Challenge - 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