Did you know? Ten facts about the cruise industry

  • One in every 12 package holidays booked in the UK is now a cruise; it was only one in 26 in 1999;
  • There has been an 18% increase in the number of cruise bed-nights booked by UK passengers who chose to cruise for longer in 2008;
  • For the third year in succession, the UK cruise market achieved double digit growth in 2008 when a 11% increase took passenger numbers to nearly 1.5 million;
  • The European cruise industry supports 285,000 jobs – up 26% from 2006;
  • The European cruise industry is catching up with its North American counterpart in terms of the economic benefits to the countries it impacts.   In 2007, it generated €29bn in total economic benefits for Europe while the North American industry’s impact on the US economy was $38bn (about €28bn). The European figure was up from less than €24bn in 2006 when the US figure was $36bn;
  • The share of repeat passengers grew sharply to 68% in 2008 – the highest since 2000;
  • The average age of cruise passengers in 2008 went up from 53.2 to 53.8;
  • Four out of every ten cruises booked started in a UK port – a share expected to increase in 2010 with the arrival of three new ships and one summer deployment becoming year-round;
  • Global cruise sales are estimated at 17m for 2008 – a 4% increase;
  • The Mediterranean remains the favourite cruise destination for the British but Northern/Western Europe is catching up fast and overtook the Caribbean to be second favourite in 2008.f e Four out of every ten cruises booked started in a UK port – a share expected to of three new ships based in Southampton and one summer deployment becoming year-round

Source:  The Annual Cruise Review, The Passenger Shipping Association

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