The foundering of Costa Concordia, the cruise liner, off the west coast of Italy is unlikely to prompt a rethink of the industry model, predicated on filling ever bigger and more luxurious vessels with ever greater numbers of passengers. However, the terrible loss of life and the chaotic evacuation of more than 4,000 passengers and crew from the ship suggest that the vaunted economies of scale of these floating mega-resorts carry significant risks. The shipwreck does not necessarily make all cruise ships more dangerous, nor will it do for the cruise business what the fatal crash of a Concorde supersonic airliner did to another branch of high-end tourism. But these tourists are easily scared. And in the short term, bookings could fall, hitting the liner operator’s London- and New York-listed parent Carnival Corporation (and its rivals), right in the peak booking season.
「歌詩達協和號」 (Costa Concordia)郵輪在義大利西海岸失事，不太可能引發人們反思行業模式，即訂造越來越大、越來越豪華的船舶，承運越來越多的乘客。然而，可怕的死難事例，以及船上4000多名乘客和船員的混亂逃生經歷，似乎表明這種水上大型度假村受到吹捧的「規模經濟」是伴隨巨大風險的。此次郵輪失事並不代表所有郵輪都更危險了；它對郵輪旅遊業務的影響，也不會像協和(Concorde)超音速客機失事那樣，重創一項高階旅遊業務。但遊客們總是很容易受驚嚇。短期內訂單可能減少，令這一郵輪營運商在倫敦和紐約上市的母公司嘉年華公司(Carnival Corporation)，及其競爭對手，在恰逢旅遊預訂高峯季節的時候遭到衝擊。
