Europe the centre of the cruise industry
01 May 2008Europe can now be considered the "centre of gravity" for the cruise sector, an industry body has claimed.
Statistics released by the European Cruise Council (ECC) showed that the number of Europeans who went on a cruise last year rose by 17 per cent.
Five years ago, only 2.6 million European citizens took a cruise holiday, rising to 3.4 million in 2006 and reaching a record four million last year, Travelmole reports.
Some 1.3 million people from the UK took a cruise in 2007, 11 per cent more than in 2006, making it the biggest source market for the European industry.
The Mediterranean and the Atlantic islands were the most popular cruise destinations, attracting 60 per cent of passengers, followed by the Caribbean and other international regions (24 per cent) and northern Europe (16 per cent).
ECC chairman David Dingle said that the figures exceeded all expectations, with the four million mark not expected to be reached until 2010.
"The popularity of cruising for European holidaymakers is growing faster than anyone in the industry envisaged," he said.
"There is no doubt that Europe is the new centre of gravity for the cruise industry and we're seeing increasing numbers of cruise lines basing ships in the region, which will encourage even more Europeans to cruise in future."
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