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UK cruise industry worth billions to UK economy
The cruise industry is now worth £2.58 billion a year to the UK economy, according to statistics from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
The cruise industry’s direct contribution to the British economy including items such as goods and services purchased by cruise lines and the salaries of their employees, grew by 3.3%, making it the highest on record.
According to CLIA’s European Economic Contribution Report, the cruise industry’s economic output in Europe reached €40.95 billion (£32.22 billion) in 2015, up 2% on the previous year, and an all-time high.
The direct expenditures generated by the industry reached €16.89 billion (£13.39 billion), up from €16.6 billion (£13.17 billion) in 2014.
Employment in the UK cruise industry grew by 4.1 percent to 73,919 jobs and accounted for 20 percent of the market share in Europe.
An estimated 16,397 of this total were directly employed by cruise lines and earned
€605 million (£479 million), the equivalent of 22 percent of the total compensation impacts for Europe.
Ten thousand new jobs were created across Europe, with 360,571 now employed in cruise and cruise-related businesses.
Wages and other benefits for European workers reached €11.05 billion (£8.72 billion).
The port of Southampton has maintained its position as the number one embarkation and disembarkation port in Northern Europe, with a total of 1.75 million passengers passing through in 2015.
It was another successful year for British ports overall; in total over one million UK and
international passengers visited a British port during a cruise, a figure that has more than doubled in six years.
CLIA Europe vice president operations Andy Harmer said: "The figures released today bear testament to the cruise industry’s contribution to the UK economy.
"Cruise may have once been considered a travel niche but the multi-billion valuation shows that cruise is a major player within the travel sector."
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Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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