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Cruise industry defies the downturn
SYDNEY – Despite the global economic crisis the Australian cruise industry reached new heights in 2009, with the number of Australians taking a cruise holiday rising 11 percent to a record 366,721, according to new figures released today.
The International Cruise Council Australasia (ICCA) 2009 Australian Cruise Industry Report shows the local cruise industry experienced its fifth consecutive year of double-digit growth.
ICCA Chairman Karen Christensen said the results followed the industry’s largest ever cruise season, with more ships sailing in Australasian waters than ever before over the 2009-10 summer.
“It’s a fantastic result, particularly when you consider that so many industries reported a decline in 2009,†she said.
The annual number of Australians taking a cruise holiday has almost doubled since 2005, when 186,666 passengers took to sea.
The South Pacific continued to be the most popular destination for Australian cruisers in 2009, attracting 137,473 passengers and accounting for 38 percent of the total cruise market.
A surge in the number of ships offering cruises to New Zealand and around Australia resulted in the largest growth in passenger numbers attributed to New Zealand, which chalked up a 74.5 per cent rise to 35,329 passengers.
Meanwhile Australia attracted 66,759 passengers, a 51.5 per cent increase, making it the second most favoured destination.
Ms Christensen said that the economic downturn, along with an increase in local capacity, appeared to have influenced cruisers’ choice of destination with small falls in the total number of passengers travelling to longer haul fly-cruise options such as Alaska and Europe.
Overall, the proportion of Australians taking a cruise holiday has risen from 0.6 per cent of the population in 2002 to 1.7 per cent in 2009, overtaking many European markets and comparing favourably with the penetration of more mature cruise markets such as the UK and North America (2.5 and 2.9 per cent respectively).
The data also revealed a growth in the proportion of longer cruises of 15+ days as well as shorter cruise breaks of under four days
Estimated annual sea days rose by 16 per cent to almost four million in 2009 as the number of cruise passengers increased along with the popularity of longer cruises.
Ian Jarrett
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