UK cruise industry hits 2 million passengers

The UK cruise industry has hit two million passengers for the first time, Clia UK & Ireland has revealed.

The association confirmed that 1.9 million passengers took an ocean cruise in 2016 while 166,900 passengers took a river cruise.

Andy Harmer, SVP membership & director, Clia UK & Ireland, said: “The past year was an impressive one for the UK and Ireland cruise industry. The increase in passenger figures is a testament to the industry’s resilience to economic and political change and further demonstrates the value that a cruise holiday offers.”

In 2015 ocean cruise was at 1.789 million passengers while river clocked up 150,000 passengers. The figures represent a 9 and 11 per cent rise for ocean and river respectively.

“Cruise lines are continuing to invest in new ships and new on-board and ashore experiences. Customers are becoming increasingly aware of the incredible experiences on offer, and this all points to continued growth for the UK and Irish cruise market in the year ahead,” he added.

Clia also confirmed that because of cruise line investment, total global capacity is set to increase by at least a third over the next 10 years. Although that figure doesn’t take into account ship retirements.

With the river cruise industry, growth was driven by waterways outside of Europe, which grew by 15 per cent, compared to a 10 per cent growth for European rivers. This is despite a continued decline in cruises on the Nile.