Vastness of the Cruise Industry

I was struck this week by the vastness and prosperity of the cruise industry.

I have been following cruising for some time and have a dozen cruise articles on www.fostertravel.com if you select Menu of 200 Destinations, then Worldwide, and then Cruising.

Yet the robust growth of this aspect of travel continues to astound me.

I received this week the annual book on cruising put out by the Cruise Lines International Association, whose 24 members represent 97 percent of the cruise capacity in North America.

Their website, incidentally, has a major consumer information component, so if you are interested in cruising, become aware of www.cruising.org.

An overview of where cruising is going is just amazing:

-This is the fastest growing element of the travel industry.  About 500,000 people took a cruise in 1970.  More than 12 million cruised in 2006, and the 2007 estimate is 12.5 million.

-The cruise industry's economic benefit to the US economy was estimated at $35.7 billion in 2006.

-The number of new ships continues to grow, reflecting an optimism about the future.  Nearly 40 ships were built in the 1980s, nearly 80 in the 1990s, and roughly 100 new ships will have been introduced since 2000 by the end of 2007.

-What the cruise ship experience is continues to become more diversified.  Though there are mega-ships, there are also many new small niche ships, such as those focused on nature.  Cruising now means more ports of call than ever before.  Your cruise ship may now have wifi, a rock climbing wall, multiple themed restaurants, and all the spa and fitness amenities imaginable.

-No one seems to thing the audience has been exhausted.  Only about 17 percent of US adults have taken a cruise.

-The average cruiser is now 49 years of age, down from the stereotype "older" market of the past.  Average household income of cruisers is $104,000, a dramatic figure in itself.  Florida, California, and Texas are the big three states for cruise patrons.

-Another amazing aspect of cruising is that about 90 percent are booked through travel agents.  In fact, cruise bookings account for more than half of all the vacation sales income for travel agents.  As travel agents struggle to survive in the new economy, cruise sales have been their salvation, as other sectors work directly with consumers and bypass the travel agent.

I've cruised on some big ships in the Caribbean, where the ship was the destination.  I've also cruised with small ships in Alaska, where getting close to humpback whales was the main point.  I've even cruised down the Yangtze to experience China.  You can see this in my write-ups on www.fostertravel.com.  The diversity of the cruise experience in 2007 provides an option for almost every taste.

Comments

[Mark Flager]

I agree with your sentiments but have to correct your headline -- "enormity" connotes somethng awful.

[Lee Foster]

Mark,
You are correct. Thanks for your observation. When I think of enormity, I think of vastness. But when I look at enormity in the dictionary, vastness is correct but the less typical understanding. Something ominously large is the first typical understanding. So I have changed the title to Vastness.
Lee