The number of New
Zealanders cruising last year
grew 36% to almost 43,000.
AFTER A DROP IN PASSENGER NUMBERS IN 2009,
an all-time record of 42,886 Kiwis hit the
seas in 2010.
The rise of 36% was significantly greater
than in any other country.
Announcing the statistics, International
Cruise Council Australasia general manager
Brett Jardine said it was an encouraging
sign for cruising’s popularity in the future.
“This is an impressive figure for New
Zealand, where the cruise market is still very
young, and we look forward to building on it
in future years,” Jardine said.
“Cruising is booming all over the world and
NZ is very much part of this growth story.”
An important change was the expanding
range of cruise holiday options in local
waters after a year when ship visits dwindled.
Jardine said the latest figures had put the
country’s cruise industry firmly back on the map.
According to the ICCA report, more than
half of passengers cruised in local waters
last year, with 42% (18,153 people)
choosing the South Pacific, 9% (3,862)
sailing in Australia and 3% in New Zealand.
Europe attracted 20% of NZ passengers
(8,390) and Alaska appealed to 5% (2,281).
A total of 2,372 passengers (6%) took a
river cruise.
The biggest growth in passenger numbers
came in the South Pacific (49.4% increase)
and Europe (49.8 %), while Alaska almost
doubled (98.7% rise, but from a smaller base).
In other trends, shorter cruises (seven days
or less) were more popular, accounting for
25% of passenger numbers, up from 13% in
2009; and longer cruises (15 days or more)
decreased to around 15%, down from 26%.
Jardine said that 1% of the NZ population,
up from 0.7% in 2009, spent around
461,000 days cruising last year.
In 2006, only 26,510 kiwis cruised.
