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UK cruise passengers ‘to double by 2010’
A shortage of capacity will be the key factor preventing a near doubling of UK cruise passengers by the end of the decade, a leading cruise line boss believes.
Carnival UK managing director David Dingle predicts that the 1.1 million cruisers expected this year will grow to between 1.7 million-1.8 million by 2010.
“In fact it could even be as high as two million, as the main factor limiting growth is a shortage of capacity,” said Dingle, introducing his company’s first cruise report analysing trends in the cruise industry.
The arrival of larger, 3,000-plus capacity ships has helped create more attractive prices, bringing cruising within reach of a broader range of the population, he added.
Older people with more disposable income remain the core market.
“So the fact that demographics clearly point to an ageing UK population suggests that the current growth in cruising will continue and even accelerate,” said Dingle. “In fact, it appears that this growth can only be limited by the ambitions of the cruise lines.”
At the same time, Carnival UK’s P&O Cruises carried a record number of families with children in 2005, when 9,000 youngsters were taken on cruises.
Helping make cruising more affordable is the rising number of departures from UK ports, with a share of more than 30% of the total, and an expanding number of shorter duration sailings.
P&O Cruises expects to triple the number of passengers on “sampler” cruises in 2006 to 30,000 over this year, while Cunard expects a further 1,000 on a new short cruise option to Hamburg.
The internet is also driving interest in cruises. While less than 2% of cruise bookings are conducted online, the web is proving popular as an information source, according to Dingle.
“It remains to be seen just how much online booking increases but is does seem more likely to emerge via travel agents’ sites rather than direct from consumers, most of whom still clearly want to use agents,” he added.
Carnival UK’s five brands – P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Cunard, Ocean Village and Swan Hellenic – are expected to outperform the market with carryings up 14% this year against overall UK growth of about 7%.
Report by Phil Davies
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