The Cruise Lines International Association’s 2017 State of the Cruise Industry Outlook is predicting that an estimated 25.3m passengers will take a cruise in 2017 – nearly 10m more than a decade ago (15.8m) – as a further 26 new ocean, river and specialty ships take to the waters in 2017.

 

This will represent a total investment of more than $6.8bn in new vessels, while even more significantly the industry is expected to bring on line another 97 new cruise ships between 2017 to 2026, representing a total estimated investment of $53bn.

 

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) President and CEO Cindy D’Aoust said: “The cruise industry is responding to global demand and we are highly encouraged by both the short-term and long-term outlook.

 

‘STEADY GROWTH’ AND ‘STRONG IMPACT…’

“From technological advancements and deployment of new ships to new ports and destinations around the world, the industry continues to respond to desires of today’s travellers, resulting in steady growth and strong economic impact around the world.”

 

The association estimates that cruise industry expenditures worldwide generated $117bn in total, supporting 956,597 full-time equivalent employees, who earned $38bn in income in 2015.

 

THE TOP 8 CRUISE TRENDS

As part of the 2017 State of the Cruise Industry Outlook, CLIA has also forecasted the top eight cruise travel trends that will have the most impact on the cruise industry this year, as tabled in the CLIA’s own words below:

 

New Generation Takes to the Water: A recent study found that younger generations, including Millennials and Generation X, will embrace cruise travel more than ever before, rating it as better than land-based vacations, all-inclusive resorts, tours, vacation house rentals, or camping.

 

Travel Agent Use Increases: According to the American Express Spending & Saving Tracker, consumer use of a travel agent increased nearly 80% from 2015 to 2016. Supporting this, CLIA is forecasting that travel agents will continue to be the matchmakers between travellers and cruise lines in 2017. Today, there are more than 25,000 CLIA-member travel agents globally compared to 12,000 in 2010. CLIA also found that cruisers report high levels of satisfaction with their travel experience when assisted by an agent.

 

River Cruise Demand Increases: River cruises offer travellers a unique and intimate travel experience. Due to demand, CLIA cruise line members currently deploy 184 river cruise ships with 13 new river cruise ships on order for 2017, an increase of about 7%.

 

More Private Islands on Cruise Itineraries: As more cruise lines introduce private island destinations, travellers are responding and booking these itineraries. In 2017, cruiselines [will] offer ports on a total of seven private islands.

 

New Cruisers Will Take to the Sea: Interest in ocean cruising is projected to remain strong in 2017. When asked what kind of vacations might be of interest in the next three years nearly half of non-cruisers expressed interest in taking an ocean cruise, while a striking 85% of cruisers also expressed interest.

 

Car Friendly Port Locations Favoured: The cruise industry offers a variety of small and large market port location options across the United States and internationally. Citing the advantages of a myriad of locations, seven out of ten (69%) non-cruisers believe the greatest benefit is cost savings and three quarters (74%) of cruisers like the convenience of driving to a cruise ship.

 

The Lure of Celeb Chefs: Cruise travellers are embracing specialty dining and will continue to consider cruise dining experiences based upon celebrity chefs. This year, several cruiselines feature restaurants and dishes created by famous chefs, including Guy Fieri, Nobuyuki ‘Nobu’ Matsuhisa and Geoffrey Zakarian.

 

Demand for Expedition Cruises: According to the Adventure Travel Trade Association, adventure travel is growing at a record pace and CLIA is reporting that cruise expeditions are seeing the impact. In fact, itineraries for Antarctica regularly sell out.