MIAMI (May 25, 2017) – Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest leisure travel company, announced that CEO Arnold Donald was named the top-ranked global executive for his strong leadership and commitment to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace and for serving as an inspiring role model.

Now in its second year, the EMpower 100 Ethnic Minority Leaders list, presented by the Financial Times, showcases the work of the top 100 black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) business leaders in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland.

EMpower officially honored Donald with its “No. 1” Ethnic Minority Leader award at a ceremony held in London to recognize the top 100 BAME leaders in diversity over the past year. The full 2017 EMpower 100 list of ethnic minority leaders is available for viewing here.

“It is a great honor to be included in this year’s EMpower 100,” said Donald, who grew up in humble beginnings in New Orleans, and who has become one of the travel and vacation industry’s most influential leaders as CEO of Carnival Corporation since July 2013. “I share this honor with our diverse team of brilliant and inspiring senior leaders at Carnival Corporation and our 120,000 dedicated employees from over 100 countries who support our 10 world-leading cruise line brands. As the world's largest leisure travel company with a fleet of 103 cruise ships visiting over 700 global ports, we take great pride in connecting nearly 12 million annual guests with people, cultures and places from around the world to help foster better understanding and appreciation of each other.”

Donald added, "We are also very proud of the diversity of our workforce and believe that the power of diversity of thinking drives innovation, which is fueled by leveraging the knowledge and creativity of our rich backgrounds, experiences and perspectives to achieve common goals. We salute all of the honorees this year and applaud EMpower’s global efforts to encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace.”

With 10 global brands and 103 ships visiting more than 700 ports around the world, diversity has always been a priority and business imperative for Carnival Corporation. Under the direction of Donald, the company has further focused its efforts to drive diversity of thinking initiatives that create competitive advantages to better serve guests and exceed their expectations for a great vacation experience.

During Donald’s nearly four years as CEO, the company has appointed diverse and dynamic leaders to serve as presidents of its cruise line brands and in various leadership roles within destination services, human resources, marketing and sales, operations and global procurement, while promoting diversity and inclusion throughout the company and its brands. During this same time period, Carnival Corporation has expanded innovation in all areas of its business and achieved significant growth, including doubling its earnings since 2013 and recording the most profitable year in its history in 2016.

"Arnold Donald is a champion for diversity, and a leading example of an immensely successful executive who has made it his personal goal to encourage and celebrate diversity in the workplace, which leads to new ideas, fresh perspectives, and ultimately new growth opportunities for an organization," said Suki Sandhu, founder & CEO EMpower. "Leaders of tomorrow can learn from Arnold the very important lesson that your ethnicity or background should not and will not be a barrier to your professional success."

In 2016, Carnival Corporation was cited as one of the "50 Best Companies for Diversity" by Black Enterprise Magazine, which annually recognizes companies that promote inclusivity, including workforce education, board member diversity, senior management, employee base and procurement.

In April 2017, Carnival Corporation was named one of the top 100 Best Corporate Citizens for 2017 by Corporate Responsibility Magazine (CRM). The company ranked No. 23 in CRM's 18th annual survey, highest among firms in the travel and tourism sector and the only cruise company to make the list.