The first five passenger emitting markets in Europe in 2017

The International Association of Cruise Lines, the main authority and voice of the global cruise community, has published the results of the European Market Report 2017 *. The report confirms that Spain has surpassed France as the fourth largest passenger issuing market in Europe, with a 6.4% growth between 2016 and 2017. The Spanish market is the most increasing and almost three times the growth of the European average, an increase that indicates a greater consumer confidence with the sector and reaffirms that last year the Spanish chose a cruise as one of the main options to enjoy their holidays.

Following the upward trend of 2015 and 2016, over the last year 510,000 Spaniards enjoyed a cruise, 31,000 more than in 2016. The Mediterranean remains the most popular option with 265,000 passengers, although this year only has a 1.5% increase over 2016. Unlike this destination, other places that require air transport such as the Canary Islands, northern Europe or the Caribbean have experienced very significant growth during 2017, suggesting a trend towards less seasonal and more diversified demand.

The results also reflect that the average duration of Spanish cruises is 7 days and that Spain is one of the European countries with a younger cruiser profile, with an average of 44 years. Another of the main conclusions drawn from the report is that more and more families choose a cruise to spend their holidays, as the number of children under 12 on board has increased by 5.2 per cent over the previous year.

At European level, the cruise market has grown steadily over the past 6 years, reaching 6.9 million European passengers in 2017 and representing an increase of 2.5% over the previous year. 75% of European cruises in 2017 have chosen Europe as their destination, a slightly lower figure compared to recent years due to the decline of passengers in the Mediterranean and the growth of cruises in the Caribbean. The report also shows that half of the European cruises go to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands and 25% to Northern Europe and the Baltic. Outside Europe, the most popular destinations are the transatlantic and Asian.