CRUISE Lines
International Association
this morning unveiled its
annual cruise industry
statistics, revealing that for
the first time ever ocean
cruise passenger numbers
in Australia have surged
past the one million mark
(CW breaking news).
The 2015 figures, which
no longer incorporate
river cruising due to CLIA
wanting its statistics to
be comparable across
regions worldwide,
showed a 14.6% growth
year-on-year in total Australian
cruise passengers and a market
penetration of 4.5%, the highest
in the world.
Only the emerging market
of China reported a stronger
rate of growth, up 40.3%, with
the Australian figures showing
a stunning compound annual
growth rate of 19.2% since 2006.
135,000 more Australians
cruised in 2015 than the prior
year, with newly appointed CLIA
Australasia chairman Steve Odell
(pictured at this morning’s launch
of the report) saying Australians
are clearly responding to the
wide variety of cruises on offer.
The South Pacific remained
Australian passengers’ favourite
cruise destination, attracting
more than a third of ocean cruise
passengers, while there was also
strong growth in Asian cruising.
Short break cruises (of four
days or less) surged in popularity,
up by 25% in 2015, while longer
cruises of 15-21 days jumped
more than 50%.
NSW was the largest source
market, with 421,950 cruise
passengers, while Queensland
numbers jumped almost 30%
compared to 2014 giving the
state a record population
penetration rate of 5.9%.
Despite its small population,
Australia was the fourth largest
source market in the world in
2015, accounting for 4.6% of
global cruise passengers.
