The Australian source market for cruises grew by 20.4% in 2014 and reached 1,003,256 passengers, exceeding the one million mark for the first time and reaching this level six years ahead of forecasts, CLIA Australasia said in a statement.
"The record result confirms Australia’s position as the world’s fastest growing source of cruise passengers, with numbers surging 20.4% last year to reach 1,003,256 cruisers. The landmark achievement of one million passengers in a calendar year comes six years before originally anticipated, and has been driven by an impressive 20% annual average growth for the past 12 years,' CLIA said.
Ann Sherry, head of Carnival Australia that operates Carnival Corp & plc group's brands in the country, has said that in Australia cruising does not have the same image problem that it suffers from in many other countries, where it is viewed mainly as a holiday option for an older and wealthier clientele.
The new figures also show Australia has retained its position as the world leader for market penetration, with the equivalent of 4.2% of Australians taking a cruise last year, significantly ahead of the well-established North American market, which ranked second with a market penetration rate of 3.4%.
Released in Sydney today at the newly refurbished Overseas Passenger Terminal, the 2014 Australian Cruise Industry Source Market Report is produced by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia, based on data received from its cruise line members, which account for more than 95 % of the world’s cruise passengers.
Speaking at the report launch, CLIA Australasia Chairman Gavin Smith said Australians’ enthusiasm for cruising was unparalleled around the world, with France the only other major world market to achieve double digit growth (13.6% ) in 2014.
Smith said Australia’s achievement of 20.4% growth represented an increase of 170,000 passengers compared to 2013, the largest rise in real numbers since CLIA first began collating passenger data in 2002. "Australia is now the fourth largest source market in the world for cruise passengers, accounting for 4.5% of world cruisers, behind North America (54.2% ), Germany (8%) and UK/Ireland (7.4%).
“These figures show that more and more Australians are realising that cruising is an easy, relaxing way to holiday which represents incredible value for money,” Smith said. “The expansion of our industry in recent years means there’s now a huge range of ships and itineraries on offer across the globe and I think Australians, who are inveterate travellers, are responding by increasingly factoring a cruise into their holiday plans.”
