Almost half a million
Australians took a cruise in
2010 – a 27% increase on the
previous year.
ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL FIGURES RELEASED
yesterday, 466,692 Australians spent their
holidays cruising, compared to 366,721 in
2009.
The 100,000 passenger increase
represents the largest growth since industry
statistics were first compiled by the
International Cruise Council Australasia nine
years ago.
Since then, the number of Australians
taking cruise holidays has risen by 306% –
from 116,308 passengers in 2002 –
achieving an average annual growth rate of
19%.
This year’s sharp hike was 27% – second
only to New Zealand (see page 2), but well
ahead of the world’s biggest markets, North
American and the UK (both recorded 6%
growth), Germany (19%), France (12%) and
Italy (11%).
ICCA chairman Gavin Smith said
Australians were motivated by the rising
number of cruise ships in local waters and
the stronger Australian dollar.
“Australians now have a record number of
cruise ships sailing from our shores
throughout the year and clearly this is
enticing more people to try a holiday at
sea,” Smith said.
“We’ve also seen encouraging growth in
international cruising, particularly in markets
like Europe where cruising provides an easy,
relaxing way to see multiple destinations,
and the strength of the Australian dollar
makes it more affordable.”
The top destination for Australian cruise
passengers was the South Pacific, which accounted for 37% of the market (171,857
passengers), followed by Australia (19%, or
90,751 people) and New Zealand (10%).
Europe and Asia attracted 8% of
passengers (35,061 and 37,267
respectively), while Alaska appealed to 4%
(19,018).
A total of 28,587 cruise passengers (6%)
opted for a river cruise.
The largest growth for any destination was
71% for “Other Americas”, which includes
Hawaii and the Caribbean, with numbers
rising from 12,381 in 2009 to 21,233 last
year.
The results equate to 2.1% of the
Australian population taking a cruise,
compared to 1.7% in 2009.
Estimated annual sea days rose by 18% to
about 4.7 million.
