The rate of expansion of the European cruise market dived to 0.5% in 2014 from 4.0% in the previous year, figures from the Cruise Lines' International Association (CLIA) show.
Talking about the 0.5% growth rate for 2014, Pierfrancesco Vago, Chairman of CLIA Europe, said in a statement: “This may sound like a small achievement, but if we consider the European economic climate, we can see that this is an extraordinary result, and continues our industry’s trend of steady growth year-on-year. While Europe is struggling to recover from the economic crisis, our industry has continued to grow. We have grown by an incredible 44% since 2008.”
The British market contracted for the first time in more than a decade last year - despite a good performance of the British economy - while Spain and Italy also showed contraction. German and French source markets expanded - by 5% and 13.7%, respectively.
