CLIA releases 2016 State of the Asia Cruise Industry Report and North Asia Economic Impact Study

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 07 September 2017 07 September 2017

The Cruise Lines International Association, today, releases the findings from two new reports about the Asian Cruise market. The first, 2017 Asia Cruise Trends, is a comprehensive analysis of the cruise industry within Asia. The second, the 2016 North Asia Economic Impact Study, reveals the economic impact the cruise industry has had to the North Asian market.

“While the Asian cruise market has grown tremendously within the past four years – it has the potential to capture a much larger percentage of the Asian population, which could catapult Asia’s capacity share ahead of competing markets,” said Cindy D’Aoust, president and CEO, CLIA. “With these studies, CLIA aims to provide industry stakeholders with actionable, meaningful information to assist in structuring and supporting this emerging region.”

Highlights from the 2017 Asia Cruise Trends Includes:

– More Passengers: A total of 3.1 million Asians took cruises in 2016, 55% more than in 2015. Of these, 68% or 2.1 million were from mainland China, a market which almost doubled as it grew by 99% last year and at a four-year CAGR of 76%, confirming China as the world’s fastest growing major source of passengers.

– More Ships in Asian Waters – In 2017, 66 cruise ships are being deployed in Asian waters. Five of these are mega ships (more than 3,500 passenger capacity), 13 are large (2,000 to 3,500 passengers), 26 of the deployed ships will be mid-size, and 17 seasonal small upscale ships will be active in the Asian region. In addition, the Expedition niche will have five ships deployed in limited seasons. In 2013, there were only 43 ships cruising in Asia, marking a 53 per cent growth since 2013.

– Increased Operating Days in 2017 – The Asian cruise industry has 10,196 operating days in Asia scheduled for 2017, an increase of 137% from 4,307 operating days in 2013, and an increase of 25% over the 8,171 operating days in 2016. The increased operating days in 2017 provide a total capacity for 4.24 million passengers. This passenger capacity has nearly tripled from 1.51 million passengers in 2013.

– Asian Travellers Prefer Exploring Asian Destinations – Asian travellers predominantly take cruises within the region. Asian cruise only passengers grew at the fastest rate mostly due to the increase in the Chinese market. In fact, out of the 2,086 sailings scheduled for Asian waters in 2017 – 1,992 cruises (or 95.4%) will remain within Asia, with exclusive Asia-to-Asia itineraries, while an additional 94 voyages are scheduled to pass through the Asia region in 2017. Total sailings in and through Asia have seen strong growth over the past four years, increasing 142%, from 861 cruises and voyages in 2013 to 2,086 in 2017.

Highlights from the 2016 North Asia Economic Impact Study:

– The direct economic contribution of cruise tourism across all of North Asia consisted of the $3.23 billion in direct expenditures, $1.51 billion in value added goods and services, and 23,697 full- and part-time jobs paying $754.5 million in employee compensation

– Wholesale & Retail Trade ($962.3 million), Other Services & Government ($693.9 million), and Financial & Business Services ($679.5 million) were the primary direct beneficiaries of cruise tourism spending. Combined, these three sectors accounted for approximately 72% of the regional direct impacts with $2.34 billion in direct expenditures, $1.18 billion in value-added goods and services, and 19,252 full- and part-time jobs paying $594.4 million in employee compensation.

– The indirect and induced economic contribution is generated by the spending of the directly impacted businesses and their employee, which is then spread throughout the corporate and consumer sectors of each economy. These impacts totalled $3.98 billion in output, $1.72 billion in value-added goods and services, and 27,934 full- and part-time jobs paying $749.6 million in employee compensation.

– Manufacturing, Financial and Business Services, and Agriculture accounted for approximately 79 per cent of the total indirect and induced impacts with $3.16 billion in output, $1.22 billion in value-added and 19,893 full- and part-time jobs paying $491.1 million in employee compensation.

– Combining the direct, indirect and induced contributions, the total economic contribution of cruise tourism in the three North Asia economies amounted to $7.21 billion in output, $3.23 billion in value-added goods and services and 51,631 full- and part-time jobs paying $1.5 billion in employee compensation.

– CLIA member cruise lines reported that they employed a total of 19,304 residents of North Asia as shore side staff or crew. China, alone, accounts for 98% of this total with 18,974 employees. Including these cruise line employees and staff, the total employment impact increases to 70,935 jobs paying $1.8 billion in compensation across the three North Asia countries.

(Updated) Brexit – business as usual for cruise industry

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 07 September 2017 07 September 2017

Alan Lam reporting from Hamburg

On the second day of Seatrade Cruise and River Cruise Convention - currently underway in Hamburg, Germany - the topic of Brexit came under scrutiny.

The general consensus among the industry leaders is one of “business as usual”. None of the cruise lines has reported any negative impact on customer confidence and booking behaviour changes on account of the impending Brexit. The UK cruise business is still booming.

Although the biggest threat to the industry is one of uncertainty, “Fourteen months into the process we still don’t know anything about Brexit,” said Tim Reardon, Policy Director – Taxation, Ferry and Cruise, UK Chamber of Shipping. But all the indications suggest Brexit makes no difference to cruise business.”

Others in the industry share this view. “The business is buoyant,” said Stuart Leven, Vice President, EMEA and Managing Director, RCL Cruises Ltd.
“We have not seen any indication at all of the negative impact on customer confidence. Customers are resilient. I think one area of concern is the short-term currency fluctuation. The buoyancy remains as we go through the process. We are now selling cruises for after the three-year moratorium period of Brexit. There is no indication of slowing down.”

Leven also pointed out possible benefits of Brexit for the UK cruise business. “We always see the pitfalls,” he said, “but there could be benefits from Brexit. We just need to keep our focus as we go through the process,” he went on. “We are not making any itinerary changes because of Brexit.”

Looking at the broader picture there appears to be no changes based on Brexit. However, examining Brexit in detail, there are many questions need to be answered, especially those concerning free movement of passengers and labour. “I don’t think anybody will go mad and start to raise barriers,” said Thanos Pallis, Secretary General, MedCruise. “There might be some adjustments relating to customs control and duty-free sales, for example, but no major worries concerning the arrival of British passengers in short to medium term. In the longer term, everything will settle down in time once we have a clearer picture.”

The question of proposed visa requirement for UK citizens travelling to other EU countries was raised perfunctorily and dismissively. But it does not seem to have deterred either the cruise industry or its customers. If anything, the post-Brexit investment in the UK is intensifying. “We have shipping clients who are investing heavily in the UK and growing even though there is a looming Brexit,” said Javed Ali, Legal Consultant, Hill Dickinson. “We have clients from Italy who are relocating 400 staff to the UK.”

Neither the UK government nor EU has said anything to the cruise industry about Brexit. So uncertainty and currency fluctuation it brings are the only threats perceived by the industry for the moment. On the whole it is business as usual as far as Brexit is concern.