Disney to Add New Ship in Tokyo to Expanding Cruise Business

Disney Dream, a Disney Cruise Lines' ship, sails to the Bahamas on the first Disney cruise for paying customers since they were stopped during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, from Port Canaveral in Florida, US, August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
Disney Dream, a Disney Cruise Lines' ship, sails to the Bahamas on the first Disney cruise for paying customers since they were stopped during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, from Port Canaveral in Florida, US, August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
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Disney to Add New Ship in Tokyo to Expanding Cruise Business

Disney Dream, a Disney Cruise Lines' ship, sails to the Bahamas on the first Disney cruise for paying customers since they were stopped during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, from Port Canaveral in Florida, US, August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
Disney Dream, a Disney Cruise Lines' ship, sails to the Bahamas on the first Disney cruise for paying customers since they were stopped during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, from Port Canaveral in Florida, US, August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

Walt Disney unveiled plans on Tuesday to launch a new cruise ship that will set sail from Tokyo starting in fiscal 2028, adding a ninth vessel to the brand's growing fleet.
The new ship, to be modeled after the Wish that is the largest vessel in the group, is a partnership with Oriental Land Company (OLC), the operator of Tokyo Disneyland. It is part of a 10-year, $60 billion expansion of Disney's theme parks and cruise business, said Reuters.
Disney currently has five cruise ships in operation. In addition to the Tokyo-based vessel, it has plans for three others, including one that will set sail from Singapore in 2025.
The ship, whose name was not revealed, will have a maximum capacity of 4,000 passengers and is expected to bring in about 100 billion yen ($621.77 million) in annual sales within several years of launch, OLC said.
"To set sail from Japan will make Disney vacations at sea more accessible to Japanese guests, who we know are some of our biggest fans," Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney Signature Experiences, told reporters.
The cruise line expansion comes as the industry is enjoying a rebound from a global shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cruise Lines International Association expects the number of passengers to reach 34.7 million this year, up 17% from 2019.
Josh D'Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, told Reuters in a recent interview that the ships provide the opportunity to bring themed entertainment to places that are not close to the company's theme parks, such as Melbourne or Vancouver.
Disney also reaches a segment of the cruise market that had gone unaddressed - families.
"Forty percent of the people on those ships today will say, 'The only reason I'm on a cruise ship today is because Disney's here,' which means we're creating a market," D'Amaro said.
"When we are in Singapore, with this unbelievable ship that we're building, the same thing is going to happen," he added. "We know there's an insatiable demand for everything Disney."
Disney's experiences business, which includes its domestic and international parks and cruise line, accounted for more than one-third of the company's revenue in the March quarter, and nearly 60% of its operating income.
The company's stock tumbled in May after Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston warned about a "global moderation" in travel in the fiscal third quarter and other impacts, including higher wages and pre-opening expenses related to two of the new cruise ships and the new vacation island, Lookout Cay.
The rising tide for Disney's cruise lines could help offset any softness in the company's domestic theme park business, UBS analyst John Hodulik said. The company said its second quarter booking occupancy is at 97% for all five ships.
The rapid expansion of Disney's cruise capacity "helps de-risk the medium-term outlook" for the parks business, Hodulik said.
Disney's other recent investments include three new areas at the Tokyo DisneySea theme park, recreating the worlds of "Frozen," "Tangled," and "Peter Pan," the opening of a "Frozen" themed land at Hong Kong Disneyland, and a "Zootopia" experience in Shanghai.
The company is expected to announce plans for new attractions at Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in central Florida in August, at its D23 fan convention.



US Reports First Outbreak of Deadly H7N9 Bird Flu since 2017

A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scientist measures the amount of H7N9 avian flu virus which was grown and harvested in an unnamed CDC laboratory in 2013. James Gathany/CDC/Handout via REUTERS
A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scientist measures the amount of H7N9 avian flu virus which was grown and harvested in an unnamed CDC laboratory in 2013. James Gathany/CDC/Handout via REUTERS
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US Reports First Outbreak of Deadly H7N9 Bird Flu since 2017

A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scientist measures the amount of H7N9 avian flu virus which was grown and harvested in an unnamed CDC laboratory in 2013. James Gathany/CDC/Handout via REUTERS
A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scientist measures the amount of H7N9 avian flu virus which was grown and harvested in an unnamed CDC laboratory in 2013. James Gathany/CDC/Handout via REUTERS

The United States reported the first outbreak of the deadly H7N9 bird flu on a poultry farm since 2017, as the country continues to grapple with another bird flu strain that has infected humans and caused egg prices to hit record highs.

The spread of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has ravaged flocks around the world, disrupting supply and fuelling higher food prices. Its spread to mammals, including dairy cows in the US, has raised concerns among governments about a risk of a new pandemic.

The strain that has caused most damage to poultry in recent years and the death of one person in the US is the H5N1.

But the H7N9 bird flu virus has proved to have a far higher death rate, killing nearly 40% of the humans infected since it was first detected in 2013, the World Health Organisation said, Reuters reported.

The latest outbreak of H7N9 was detected on a farm of 47,654 commercial broiler breeder chickens in Noxubee, Mississippi, the Paris-based World Animal Health Organisation said in a report on Monday, citing US Authorities.

"Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H7N9 of North American wild bird lineage was detected in a commercial broiler breeder chicken flock in Mississippi. Depopulation of the affected flock is in progress," the report says.

"The USDA (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in conjunction with State Animal Health and Wildlife Officials, are conducting a comprehensive epidemiological investigation and enhanced surveillance in response to the detection," it added.