The cruise industry’s strong growth continued in the third quarter, as the member fleets of the Cruise Lines International Association…
The cruise industry’s strong growth continued in the third quarter, as the member fleets of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) carried 2.873 million worldwide guests in the third quarter of 2004, a 9.72 percent increase over the same period in 2003. North American passengers grew by nine percent during the same period, to 2.351 million guests, up from 2.140 million third-quarter guests one year ago.
The 2004 third-quarter passenger figures are new statistics released today by CLIA, whose member lines represent over 95 percent of the cruise capacity marketed in North America. In addition to the growing passenger totals, CLIA cruise lines also posted impressive occupancy figures, with a 109.4 percent occupancy factor in the third quarter of 2004 compared with 107.2 percent for the year prior.
“These impressive third-quarter guest totals reflect leisure cruising’s widespread appeal, and the determined sales efforts of the nearly 16,500 CLIA-member travel agencies,” said Terry L. Dale, CLIA’s president and CEO. “More and more, consumers recognize that seagoing vacations provide satisfying, high-quality travel experiences, plus tremendous convenience and value, particularly in comparison with land-based travel.”
Overall, statistics for the first three quarters of 2004 show nearly a 10 percent increase in worldwide passengers to 7.897 million guests, up from 7.187 million for the same period in 2003. North American guest totals for the period grew 10.33 percent to 6.679 million, up from 6.054 million in 2003, while foreign-sourced passengers climbed to 1.219 million guests, up from 1.133 million in 2003.
CLIA’s passenger carryings statistics for the first three quarters of 2004 also include:
Itineraries of one to five days accounted for a 31.3 percent share of the cruise market; cruises of six to eight days accounted for 56.8 percent; nine- to 17-day cruises accounted for 11.5 percent and itineraries of 18 days or longer accounted for .4 percent of the market.
The average length of a cruise in the first three quarters was 6.93 days versus 6.84 days for the same period in 2003.
Average industry occupancies through October totaled 104.5 percent versus 103.2 percent during the same period in 2003.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
