Asian cruise market sails to double-digit growth

While Asian cruise passenger numbers surged 20.6% to hit another record high of over four million in 2017, overall cruise capacity deployed in the region is expected to decline marginally this year, according to the Asia Cruise Trends 2018 report recently released by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

Between 2012 and 2017, Asian cruise passengers grew from 775,000 to nearly 4.1 million, an estimated 39% compound annual growth rate.

However, China, the main driver of passenger growth in Asia for the last few years, experienced a deceleration last year, adding 286,000 passengers compared to more than one million passengers in 2016.

Still, it maintained its dominance, accounting for 59% of all Asian cruise passengers.

Asia’s other major passenger source markets were Taiwan (374,000), Singapore (267,000), Japan (262,000), Hong Kong (230,000), Malaysia (188,000) and India (172,000).

CLIA observes that the majority (91%) of Asian cruisers sailed within the region in 2017, with intra-regional cruising expected to continue dominating into 2018. For longhaul, inter-regional cruisers, Europe was top choice in 2017 with 25% travelling to the Western Mediterranean, and 9% and 8% respectively traveling to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Baltics.

The Caribbean and Alaska are also popular, accounting for 24% and 11% of Asian cruisers travelling outside Asia.

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