Agents helping cruise industry growth, says CLIA

Joint efforts of the industry and its travel agent partners were cited as reasons for the continuing robust growth of the cruise business, according to Bob Sharak, executive director of Cruise Lines International Association. Mr Sharak announced new CLIA figures that showed third quarter figures with almost a 9% increase over the same period last year. “CLIA shops sailed at 103.2% occupancy during the first three quarters of 2003,” he said, attributing that to the industry and travel agents. In the third quarter of 2003, more than 2.6 million people cruised on CLIA member ships, including more than 2.1 million in North America, according to CLIA figures. The industry is now on pace to reach its original estimate of 9.6 million passengers worldwide (8.3 million North America) for another record-setting year in 2003, added Mr Sharak. The room for growth in the US is particularly strong because only 15% of the total population is estimated to have taken a cruise.