By
Rebecca Gibson |
Australia has the fastest growing cruise market, outranking North America in terms of market penetration based on population, according to figures from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia.
CLIA Australasia’s 2013 Cruise Industry Source Market Report revealed that a record 833,348 Australians took a cruise last year, a 20% increase from 2012 when numbers rose by 11% to reach 694,062. This is more than double the growth rate of any other major cruise market including Germany and France, which both grew 9%; the USA, which increased by 3%; and the UK/Ireland, which rose by 1%.
Last year, Australia achieved a penetration rate of 3.6%, making it the first nation to ever achieve a stronger penetration rate than North America, which is the world’s largest passenger source market. In 2013, North America’s penetration rate only grew by 3.3%. Market penetration in the UK/Ireland, Germany and Italy was recorded at 2.5%, 2.1% and 1.4% respectively.
“Australia is still a relatively young cruise market, yet the number of Australians taking a cruise has grown by an enviable average 20% a year for the last 11 years as a growing number of travellers discover the many joys of cruising,” said Gavin Smith, CLIA Australasia chairman. “With more ships being deployed in Australia in 2014 and 2015, we’ve set course for continued growth over the next few years, so the benchmark of one million annual cruise passengers should be reached by 2016, if not before.”
The South Pacific continues to dominate as a cruise destination, with 330,000 Australians cruising the region in 2013, while the number of Australians cruising to New Zealand has almost reached 100,000. The popularity of Asian cruises has increased by 28%, with a record 44,382 passengers sailing to the region as cruise ship capacity starts to expand.
Around 77,000 passengers opted for long-haul cruises to Europe – a hike of 34% – with Northern European numbers rising more than 50% to 20,000 passengers. Mediterranean destinations continue to be the most popular.
River cruising numbers also increased by around a quarter as around 50,000 Australians took to inland waterways, spending an average of 14.4 days on river cruises. In total, Australians spent an estimated 8.7 million days at sea in 2013, up 22% on 2012.
The state of New South Wales remains the leading source of cruise passengers accounting for 41.1% of the total market, followed by Queensland and Victoria.