As per the official figures released by the CLIA, the UK cruise market has descended to the fourth position in the global passenger rankings for 2016.
Though the UK passenger numbers increased from 1.79 million from 1.89, China has grown to 2.1 million catapulting it to the third place.
The German cruise sector continued to be in the second place with as many as 2.02 million customers and the first place was held by the US at 11.52 million.
The chief executive of CLIA, Cindy D’Aoust said that one of the major factors that the cruising sector is thriving is due to the introduction of the concept of personalization that is finding favor among its guests all across the world. She went on to add that she has never come across such an industry that appropriately responds to the requirements of the customers.
The global cruise market had reached 24.7 million crossing the 24.2 million forecasts for the year 2016.
For the year 2017, CLIA predicts yet another promising period as the cruise tourist numbers are forecast to reach 25.8 million globally. The Caribbean was the leading destination at 35% followed by Mediterranean at 18% and the remaining part of Europe at 11%.
CLIA specified that the growth of the industry can be attributed to the continuous development of the Asian market, particularly China.
Globally, the 2016 CLIA fleet comprised 458 cruise vessels and welcomed nine new ocean ships and 17 new river vessels for 26 new cruise ships.
