Page 4 - 2019 Cruise Industry News Annual Report
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THE WORLDWIDE INDUSTRY (II)
The Independence of the Seas Europe is the second most important market with an
estimated 29 percent of all the passengers and Asia-
This will be another big year for the cruise industry Pacific, including China and Australia, the third largest
with the introduction of 24 new ships. market with some 15 percent of the passengers.
Among the highlights: Costa and Royal Caribbean are The passenger numbers are directionally correct and
both sending new ships to China, MSC is building up ca- reliable, but fluctuate somewhat with economic swings
pacity in the Caribbean and Europe, Carnival is putting and cruise lines’ marketing efforts and ship deploy-
its first new ship in the Mexican Riviera market, and the ments.
first wave of expedition ships is entering service.
Other major markets include Brazil, accounted for
The total estimated global passenger capacity in- among the European brands, which deploy ships there
crease for 2019 will be 4.1 percent. The North American seasonally.
market is forecast to see a 6.8 percent increase in ca-
pacity, Europe will be up 9.1 percent, while Asia-Pacific So-called emerging markets can be found in Eastern
will see a 12 percent drop due to the readjustment in Europe and throughout Asia, including India, but the
the Chinese market. passenger numbers are relatively modest.
Target: 40 Million Passengers Ship Deployments
All told, on a global basis, the cruise lines will need Along with the concentration of passenger sourc-
to generate another million or so passengers in 2019, ing is also a concentration of deployment with the
which should not be too tall of a task given the attrac- Caribbean representing nearly 40 percent of the an-
tiveness of the product and global passenger sourcing. nual passenger capacity in 2019. The Mediterranean
will see nearly 15 percent, Asia-Pacific more than 12
The cruise industry has been on a growth course percent and Northern and Western Europe more than
since its modern-day launch in the late 1960s. For the 9 percent. The balance is spread throughout the world.
past two decades the fleet has grown from 230 ships
and 10.3 million passengers in 1998 to over 400 ships The industry was launched on Caribbean cruises and
and nearly 30 million passengers. the foreseeable trend is that the region will continue to
dominate with tropical destinations within easy (fuel ef-
Over the next 10 years, newbuild orders and invest- ficient) sailing distances.
ments in the refurbishment of existing ships suggest
that the fleet may grow to more than 500 ships, carrying Both North American and Caribbean ports have ex-
more than 40 million passengers and making this a $60 panded and upgraded their facilities to handle more
billion (annual revenue) industry. ships and more passengers.
Core Markets While the Caribbean is year-round, it also has a sea-
sonal component as more ships are there in the winter
North America continues to be the core market in and redeploy to other regions in the summer, like the
2019, expected to generate more than 56 percent of all Mediterranean and Alaska.
the passengers on a global basis.
Most other sailing regions are seasonal or have a larg-
er seasonal component.
Fueling Niche Markets
The growth in the contemporary market is also fuel-
ing growth in luxury and expedition cruises as past pas-
sengers look for new experiences.
Thus, the orderbook includes a record number of
luxury and expedition ships.
China may also soon see a major home-grown brand
slated to enter service later this year with second-hand
ships before it launches into its own newbuild program.
Barring any unforeseen events, economic downturns
or spikes in fuel prices, there is every reason to expect
2019 to be another solidly profitable year for the indus-
try. – Oivind Mathisen
16 Cruise Industry News | 2019 Annual Report
