A recent report by CLIA Uk and Ireland had confirmed an increase of 10% in the number of passengers sailing from a UK port, which is fantastic news for the UK cruise market and the economy in general. In 2013 over 1 million passengers started their cruise from the UK.
On top of this the number of passengers visiting UK ports whilst on a cruise rose by 20% to 866,000.
The UK remains the largest market in Europe for cruising and accounts for 27% of global cruise passengers, second only to North America.
Whilst the majority of customers leaving from a UK port are British we also have large numbers of overseas customers choosing to sail from here which brings trade to local area's with customers enjoying overnight hotel stays or adding on a land based stay to their holiday.
Andy Hamer, Director of CLIA UK and Ireland commented that “The cruise industry’s continued confidence in the UK market is clearly demonstrated by the increasing number of ships that will sail from British ports in the coming years, and we believe this marks a key point in the continuing growth of the UK cruise market.”
This is all good for us as UK customers, with more people choosing to take cruises, cruise lines will continue to position more ships from the UK and offer more choice of ship and destination to us. I have been selling cruises for over 10 years now and have loved seeing the growth in the industry and in particular the change in the ships offered. Cruising still offers traditional ships to mature customers but also offers much younger and family products too. It is this variation that is now offered that will continue to see those passenger numbers rise.
I look forward to talking about another 10% growth next year.
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