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Dazzling future for cruising in the Med
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At its first Board meeting since the recent election of its new management Board, MedCruise, the Association of Mediterranean Ports, announced official figures to its members supported by the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA) in the UK, which predict an exciting trend for the coming year.
Gibraltar is set to benefit from the continued growth pattern in the UK and Europe, with the number of UK cruise passengers taking an ocean cruise increasing 21.5% over just two years from 2004 ?2006. Next year predicts that the number of British travellers taking an ocean cruise holiday will increase by an additional 210,000 passengers, bringing an annual total to one and a quarter million passengers.
The industry continues to be the fastest growing sector in the travel industry. Gibraltar is scheduled next year, to receive 200 ships in port with vessels carrying up to 3,000 passengers.
BULLISH
Speaking on behalf of MedCruise, Albert Poggio, Senior Vice-President concurs , ?The future?s dazzling as the cruise industry goes from strength-to-strength. Predictions for 2006 paint an excellent picture for the industry. And it doesn?t stop there as our bullish predictions show that a 1.5 million of us could be cruising by 2008 ? that?s a surge of nearly 50% on 2004 figures. In terms of market penetration of the holiday industry we are still small and have a long way to grow.?
Next year eight new ships will be launched and additional capacity from cruise lines such as Travelscope, Fred Ocean Cruise Line, Saga, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean International, Island Cruises and Thomson Cruises will play a significant part in this phenomenal growth. Year-on-year growth between 2005-6 is expected to be nearly 16 per cent. The market remains strong with no major withdrawals planned and investment into the industry in terms of new ship builds and additions will continue with a further nine ships due to be launched in 2007.
2005 saw the withdrawal of Airtours/Sun Cruises from the market in late 2004/early 2005 which could have impacted on the growth trend. However, the industry response with ten new ship launches in 2005 more than compensated for this loss, injecting additional capacity to the UK market. Substantial additional capacity from cruise lines in 2005 included P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Saga and Thomson Cruises. It is estimates that these changes resulted in a modest 4.9% per cent increase in passengers between 2004 and 2005 ? increasing ocean cruise holidaymakers from 1.03 million to 1.08 million year-on-year.
2005 saw the mergence of a strong trend towards ex-UK port cruising ?with numbers up by nearly 100,000 (from 306,000 to 400,000). Indeed ex-UK cruises now account for 37% of all cruises taken. With more companies following suit and regional ports also expanding to enable them to accommodate the larger cruise ships of the future, the industry reports that this upward trend will continue in 2006.
INITIATIVES
MedCruise the Association of Mediterranean Ports of which Gibraltar was a founding member, is instigating a number of initiatives to reach the consumer across Europe to stimulating further awareness of the market and the variety of holiday options available on a cruising venture.
Next Year Gibraltar will host MedCruise members together with leading figures in the cruise industry.
"As a current preferred Port of Call, Gibraltar?s tourism sector can look forward to profit from the travel industry?s fastest growing sector," said Mr Poggio.
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