By
Rebecca Gibson |
New Zealand was one of the world’s fastest-growing cruise markets in 2017, according to a new report from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia.
The 2017 New Zealand Source Market Report found that a record 98,000 New Zealanders took an ocean cruise last year, an 8.7% increase from 2016. Around 40% of these cruise guests were under the age of 50, while the remaining 60% were over the age of 50.
Almost a third of these travellers took a cruise to the South Pacific, enabling the region to maintain its place as the most popular destination. Meanwhile, 24% of people chose to take a cruise to other destinations in New Zealand and 13,264 opted for Australian itineraries – a 112% rise from 2016. Just under half (44%) of New Zealanders took a cruise that lasted 8-14 days, although shorter voyages lasting less than four days shot up in popularity by 150% this year.
“New Zealand continues to outperform many other more established cruise markets, in percentage terms well ahead of the US, Europe, and the UK and Ireland,” said Joel Katz, managing director of CLIA Australasia. “Over the past 10 years, New Zealand ocean cruise passenger numbers have risen by an average of 14.7% a year. With two thirds of Kiwi cruise travellers choosing to cruise close to home, it’s clear that cruising is continuing to grow in popularity as more capacity is being deployed in the region.”
Growth is expected to continue in 2018 and beyond.
“With 109 new cruise ships set to be delivered between 2018 and 2027, New Zealand is well positioned to reap the rewards of increased local deployments, as long as infrastructure constraints can be addressed and the tax burden on cruisers and the industry does not become too onerous,” said Katz. “With many of these local cruises calling at the regional ports around the New Zealand coastline, local communities benefit from the injection of valuable tourist dollars and cruise line expenditure into the local economies.”