The Asia cruise market hit another record high in 2017, according to the latest Asia Cruise Trends report from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
“Asia once again showed impressive results in 2017 with most Asian source markets registering double-digit year-on-year growth,” said Joel Katz, managing director for CLIA Australasia and Asia, said in a written statement. “After another year of exceptional growth which saw Asia outperform other established markets, it’s clear that cruising is continuing to grow in popularity as cruise lines continue to deploy significant capacity in the region, including brand new, large cruise ships purpose-built for Asian consumers.”
Highlights from the 2018 Asia Cruise Trends Include:
- More Asian passengers in 2017 – Asian sourced ocean cruise passenger numbers hit another record high in 2017 with 4.052M taking an ocean cruise (up 20.6 percent). Asia accounted for about 15 percent of total global ocean passenger volume in 2017. Mainland China maintained its dominance as a key source market, accounting for almost 60 percent of all Asian passengers. Most of the Asian markets registered double-digit year-on-year growth. Between 2012 and 2017, Asian cruise passengers grew from 775,000 to nearly 4.052M, almost a 40 percent compound annual growth rate.
- More Variety of Ship Products in Asian Waters in 2018 – 2018 will see 38 cruise brands deployed and more ships in Asian waters. There will be a broader variety of cruise products with significant increases in large (2,000 to 3,500 passengers) as well as small upscale ships deployed in Asia. 2018’s scheduled cruise calls are slightly down from the planned calls in 2017 but are maintaining an upward 5-year trend. In 2013, only 43 ships cruised in Asia, marking an 80 percent growth since 2013.
- Southeast Asia ports expected to see significant growth – Southeast Asia will see more than 20 per cent increase in port calls in 2018. In total there will be over 7,100 port calls in Asia with Japan, mainland China, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia expected to receive the most number of cruises. East Asia accounts for 60 percent of the port calls, followed by Southeast Asia (36 percent) and the remaining in South Asia (4 percent).
- Asian travelers prefer shorter cruises within Asia – Asian travelers continue to predominantly take cruises within the region (91 percent) with shorter sailings of 4 to 6 nights by far the most popular. With a weighted average age of 44.6 years old, cruise passengers from Asia are one of the younger cruise travelers globally.
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