UK cruise sector ‘struggling to keep up with post-Covid demand’
The UK cruise sector is struggling to keep up with buoyant post-pandemic demand for holidays at sea, industry leaders have warned.
According to Clia, UK cruise passenger numbers topped one million during the first six months of the year, up 50% compared with 2019 levels. Some 31.4 million people, meanwhile, are expected to take a cruise this year globally, with this figure expected to rise to 39.5 million by 2027.
Advantage Travel Partnership members have seen a 150% increase in cruise passenger numbers over the past 12 months, with the ocean and river segments up by 166% and 58% respectively.
Speaking at the consortium’s Latitude cruise conference in Paris, Celebrity Cruises EMEA boss Giles Hawke said the industry was struggling to meet this rising demand.
“I think there’s way more growth opportunities than we’re seeing coming,” he said. “I think one of our challenges is we almost can’t build the ships quickly enough to be able to match the demand we know is coming."
His comments echoed those of Antonio Paradiso, MSC Cruises managing director UK and Ireland, who said there wasn’t currently "enough capacity".
“There’s a real appetite for cruising, and I truly believe we’re going to be reaching those 40 million passengers a year, Paradiso told delegates, days after MSC confirmed an order for two more LNG-powered ships.
Hawke has also urged agents to focus on selling Europe next year, tell them there would be market opportunities with North American tourists steering clear due to ongoing geopolitical issues.
“Americans tend to see Europe as quite a small place and if something’s happening in one part of Europe, it still puts them off the whole region,” he added. “We think there’s going to be a lot of availability and opportunities to sell into Europe, both into the Med and Northern Europe.”
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