Carnival Corporation & plc and TUI AG have withdrawn their plans for a joint venture.
The joint venture was intended to encompass Carnival’s existing German-market brand, AIDA, and a new brand, TUI Cruises, which was to be launched in 2010 with a new ship. Intended to be 75 percent owned by Carnival and 25 percent by TUI, it has been axed because of what Carnival described as “an extremely difficult regulatory environment in Germany”.
Carnival will continue to operate AIDA independently. TUI also owns other cruise lines through its subsidiaries TUI Travel plc and Hapag-Lloyd AG; TUI Travel owns Thomson Cruises and Quark Expeditions, as well as part of Island Cruises, a joint venture between TUI Travel and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd while Hapag-Lloyd owns Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. None of these brands were intended to be part of the Carnival joint venture and they will not be affected by the announcement.
Click here for a full press release from Carnival Corporation & plc or here from TUI.
