2017 was another year of exceptional growth for Asian cruise market, according to Cruise Lines International Association’s (CLIA) latest report on Asia Cruise Trends.
Asian sourced cruise passenger numbers hit record high in 2017 with 4.052 million taking an ocean cruise, up by 20.6 percent. Asia accounted for about 15 percent of total global ocean passenger volume in 2017.
Speaking of the number of deployed ships, there has been 80 percent growth since 2013, when only 43 ships cruised in Asia.
“After another year of exceptional growth which saw Asia outperform other established markets, it’s clear that cruising is continuing to grow in popularity as cruise lines continue to deploy significant capacity in the region, including brand new, large cruise ships purpose-built for Asian consumers. 2018 is expected to deliver another year of growth as Asian travellers increasingly recognise cruising as an easy, relaxing, and great value for money way to travel,” Joel Katz Managing, Director for CLIA Australasia & Asia, said.
The report further shows that 2018 will see 38 cruise brands deployed, against 35 in 2017. More ships are also bound for Asian waters in 2018, with 78 ships are scheduled to be deployed in Asia, up from 66 in 2017, with 17 of them year round.
There is also a tendency toward deployment of bigger cruise ships with the capacity to accommodate 3,500 passengers as well as small upscale ships in the region. Nevertheless, the scheduled number of cruise calls for 2018 is slightly down from the planned calls in 2017 but are maintaining an upward 5-year trend.
Destination markets seeing the most calls are Japan (2,601), Mainland China (1,012), and Thailand (581) in 2018. Top ports in the region are Shanghai (416), Singapore (374), Taipei (322), and Hong Kong (249).