Former President & Chief Executive Officer, Carnival
Search every verified Arnold Donald interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In February 2023, Arnold Donald received the 2023 Lifetime Achiever in Business Award from the St. Louis American Foundation. In a video produced for the event, Donald discussed his background, stating he was born in New Orleans in 1954 during segregation and attended an all-boys Catholic high school. He said he decided in his junior year to become a general manager of a Fortune 100 company, a plan he executed by joining Monsanto, where he spent 23 years and eventually became president of the agricultural company. Donald said he served on Carnival's board for nearly 13 years before being asked by then-chairman Micky Arison to become CEO, a role he accepted because he saw travel as a platform that brings people together. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Donald stated in a September 2020 interview that the impact on the cruise industry was "absolutely devastating," with zero revenue and no guests. He noted that Carnival had raised over $12 billion in capital markets and emphasized cash conservation. In 2021, Donald reported that bookings were within historical ranges and that there was "pent-up demand" for cruising. He outlined plans for ships to resume operations with enhanced protocols, including PCR testing and isolation areas, and said the company was sailing largely with vaccinated guests. Donald also stated that the company did not require mass layoffs and aimed to financially protect employees at the manager level and below.
“I think the best way to future proof any business is to really understand your customer, in our case is our guest that came out of the cruise industry, to understand them and make certain you're doing everything to exceed their expectations.”
“The power of AI is AI will be able to tell that crew member, so the crew member is not just using predictive AI but generative AI, where AI will say is this person's birthday, this is their next spa appointment, this is whatever, here's something you might want to say to them. So that makes that experience highly perso...”
“It brings people together so they can discover what they have in common and they can learn to celebrate their differences rather than to fear them. So it's very important economically but it's especially important from a humanity standpoint.”
“Travel brings us together. Through travel different peoples and cultures discover what we share in common, inspiring empowering us to celebrate our differences rather than fearing or resenting them.”
“Investment in travel and tourism in Africa has risen at much stronger rate than the global average since 2000. Now between 2000 and 2019 investment increased by nearly 350%.”
“Rwanda's travel and tourism sector attracted $173 million in 2022. It's just the beginning and better still Rwanda's travel and tourism sector forecast to rise to 194 just the beginning and then the next decade is expected to grow to grow substantially even more. It's going to create hundreds of thousands of jobs.”
“I always said we always knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel we just didn't know how long the tunnel was and now that tunnel has gotten a lot shorter because here we are in Seattle for this interview we have two ships about to set sail this weekend the ship we're sitting on Holland America New Amsterdam Maje...”
“honestly I'm doing this particular pandemic there were a couple of things that happened in our industry one in the very beginning when people were very afraid of the virus there were some quarters that said you should not have anyone who is Chinese selling your ship and I thought that that was an unthinkable thing to s...”
“if employees feel that way the following things would have happened we would have honored our commitment for compliance Environmental Protection health safety and well-being of everyone the guests who we serve on our ships the people in the communities that we touch who we also serve and our short side and shipboard Pe...”
“The goal is again to pick a place that can inspire collaboration between the private and public sector to make travel even more frictionless, to make travel even more enjoyable and amazing, travel even more sustainable. And so we're looking for locations that demonstrate that, and sustainable in the holistic sense, so...”
“We pull together best practices and best thinking from the private sector and the public sector, and then we try to put that forward in the public sector to ensure that there are regulations and procedures that contribute to more frictionless travel, even more enjoyable travel, even more sustainable travel. And that's...”
“We did 14 transactions raising 23.6 billion dollars virtually to give us a liquidity runway. We conserved cash, we did the difficult things, we provided a soft landing for the majority of our employees, but it's still excruciating for them and for us.”
“Our highest responsibility, top priority, compliance, environmental protection, health, safety, and well-being for everyone. So compliance, we're gonna have to comply with everybody. We're gonna have to comply with Florida, with the destinations we go to, with CDC, with other regulatory bodies similar to those around t...”
“It'll take some time and we may be able to get there before 23 but unlikely because we exited 19 ships during the pause. So we accelerated the exit of less efficient vessels in the fleet as part of our cash management that we have to do.”
“with cash from operations now turning positive we have reached an inflection point and in fact turned the corner and are headed on a positive trajectory i am not only excited about i am also very confident in the future of our company and i'm looking forward to his continued success”
Meet one of the world's most accomplished Blacks.
HOW IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES ARE CAPTIVATING TODAY'S TRAVELER FII PRIORITY Miami 2024 Plenary | 10:50AM - 11:05AM | February 23rd, 2024 In 2023, consumers went further than ever before—crossing off bucket list adventures to the Arctic and even into space. While travelers’ reach is anticipated to grow in 2024, their pursuit of authentic, unique experiences will become more pronounced. According to Hilton’s 2024 Trends Report, 85% of travelers seek to try local cuisines and nearly 50% seek to learn about their destination's local customs, traditions, natural ecology, and preservation efforts. On th…
Michelle Sutter interviews Arnold Donald, CEO & President of Carnival Corporation & PLC. Arnold shares his insights including ...
The 2023 Lifetime Achiever in Business Award was presented to Arnold Donald by the St. Louis American Foundation at the 21st Salute to Excellence in Business Awards and Networking Luncheon. The event was held at the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis on February 16th, 2023. The video was produced by James LeBine, Raven Whitener, and Barbara Jones. www.stlafoundation.org
Si è concluso da pochi giorni il Global Summit che il Wttc (World travel and tourism council) tiene ogni anno e per il quale è stata scelta, questa volta, la capitale dell'Arabia Saudita, Riyadh. Il chairman Arnold Donald che ha aperto e chiuso la tre giorni di incontri, racconta in questa intervista obiettivi e strategie dell'organizzazione. Di Giampiero Moncada.
While 2020 was a challenging year for the travel and leisure industry, Hyatt and Carnival emerged with a renewed focus on human connection, a mindset of collaboration and inclusion – and a sharper sense of experimentation. Find out how these CEOs managed unprecedented turbulence and created sustainable recovery models. The CEOs of Hyatt and Carnival address travel’s rebound and their outlook on enhanced well-being experiences. Mark Hoplamazian, Hyatt Hotels CEO Arnold Donald, Carnival Corporation CEO Interviewed by: Seema Mody, CNBC Reporter Join us in July for our next CNBC Evolve Global Su…
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Arnold Donald speaks to Lucy Huxley.
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