The cruise industry has exceeded 2015 forecasts and increased passenger expectations for 2016 - a sign that the cruise ship industry is now stronger than ever. This was announced by the International Association of Cruise Lines - Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) - at the Cruise360 conference in Vancouver.
The industry recorded a total of 23.2 million passengers on ocean cruises in 2015, up from 23 million and a 4 percent increase during 2014.
As a result of year-over-year increases, CLIA has adjusted its expectations for 2016 and now predicts that 24.2 million travelers will set sail on cruise ships worldwide.
“The success in 2015 demonstrates the continued strength of the cruise industry in the overall travel sector,” said Cindy D'Aust, president and CEO of CLIA.
"This is a direct result of the amazing work and collaboration of our community cruise lines, executive partners, travel agencies and agents. Plus, with the highest customer satisfaction scores of any leisure and travel segment, it reflects that cruise vacations are the holiday choice of travelers around the world."
According to CLIA findings, much of the reason for the industry's growth can be attributed to developing regions of the world.
Asia experienced a surge in ocean passenger growth in 2015 cruise ships- 24 percent increase from 2014 to 2015, more than 2 million passengers in total in 2015. Australia is not far behind - the region that includes Australia, New Zealand And Pacific Ocean, experienced a 14% increase in cruise passengers from 2014 to 2015.
A year earlier, interest in cruises in North America grew noticeably - the flow of tourists doubled compared to 2014.
Experts note that 62% of travelers who once went on a cruise buy cruise tours again, and 69% of tourists traveling by water consider this type of vacation more interesting than traveling by land.
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The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) was formed at the end of 2012. Its members include the European Cruise Council, the Asian Cruises Association, the Passenger Shipping Association, the French Association of Cruise Companies (Association Française des Compagnies de Croisière), the Brazilian Association ABREMAR, North Northwest and Canada Cruise Association, Alaska Cruise Association, International Cruise Council Australia and Cruise Lines International Association.
Last year, only about 60 thousand Russians vacationed on sea cruises, but these trips can attract a much larger number of tourists in Russia. Experts from the Italian cruise company Costa Cruises came to these conclusions.
Despite the small number of Russian tourists on the company’s ships, Costa Cruises experts assess the market prospects positively. The company conducted a survey that examined the preferences of Russians aged 25-65 who planned to spend a vacation (at least seven days a year) abroad and spend approximately 1,000 euros per person. In total, more than 500 people from this category of tourism service consumers were interviewed.
“About 97% of respondents are thinking about spending their holidays on a cruise, 76% are interested in this prospect in the next 2-3 years, and 13% have already planned a sea cruise,” said the managing director of Fulcra, Silvia Carloni.
“The dynamics of the last six months have shown that Russian tourists’ interest in cruises is growing. In total, last year 60 thousand Russians went on sea cruises, most of them with Costa Cruises. This year we expect serious growth. Moreover, Russians view cruises both as an opportunity to relax and as a fashion trend,” said Costa Cruises President Neil Palomba.
According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), 25.3 million people around the world plan to go on cruises this year.
He emphasized that the most popular cruise destination among Russians is the Mediterranean Sea, Northern Europe with a call at St. Petersburg. Mr. Palomba recalled that AlItalia airline operates direct flights from the Northern Russian capital to Venice, from where cruises depart to Greece, Croatia and etc. Also, according to Neil Palombo, Russians are also interested in traveling around Indian Ocean, Caribbean, etc.
Answering a question about the language barrier, he emphasized that on those cruises where the majority of tourists came from Russia or, for example, China, there are always employees from these countries. In addition, menus and cruise programs have been translated into Russian. Neil Palomba compared the cost of a day of cruise to the price of dinner in a Moscow restaurant. True, he emphasized that a sea cruise is not all inclusive, the cost consists of accommodation, three meals a day and entertainment on board, and drinks and excursions are paid separately.
Senior Vice President for International Sales of the company, Massimo Brancaleoni, added that the crisis in Russia is coming to an end and recalled that if at its height the euro exchange rate reached 100 rubles, now it is at around 60 rubles. This also contributes to the interest of cruise companies in the Russian market. At the press conference the materials included approximate prices for sea cruises, for example, cruise + holiday in Sardinia - from 1336 euros for 11 days.
According to Russian companies that sell sea cruises, 2015 was a failure, but already 2016 gave an increase of 20-25%, and the increase in sales at the beginning of 2017 was even more significant - up to 30%. But we are talking specifically about the increase in the number of tourists, in monetary terms the increase turned out to be not so significant: people began to save more, travel less often and buy cheaper cruises.
If we talk about world statistics, then the annual increase in tourists in the sea cruise industry is approximately a million people. Thus, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), 25.3 million people plan to go on cruises this year, last year 24.2 million people took sea cruises, in 2015 - 23.19 million, a year earlier - 22.3 million. The cruise market ten years ago included 15.8 million passengers.
82% of Russians who choose sea cruises book expensive cabins with a balcony or suites. These statistics were shared by Natalya Bentas, Royal Caribbean’s executive director for the markets of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at a press conference of the company “Cruise House MK” on November 14.
Only clients from the Middle East book more expensive accommodation on board than Russians – 90%. For comparison, among tourists from Belgium and the Netherlands only 52% are ready to take this step, and clients from Spain prefer balconies by 28%, the rest prefer internal cabins and cabins with a window. In addition, Russians are among the top three most wasteful tourists on board, along with passengers from China and the Middle East.
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Natalya Andronova, general director of Atlantis Line, explains this by the Russian mentality. “Cruise companies value Russian tourists - they love shopping on board and leave the most generous tips. In addition, they love balconies. But people who choose cruises are well off all over the world. Even statistics say that this type of vacation is preferred by intelligent clients who want to see the world and have a good job. In the city, they spend two to three times more than land-based tourists,” she said.
However, according to observers, Russians now make up less than 1% of the total number of cruise line customers. According to Giani Rotondo, Royal Caribbean's general director for the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions, the Russian market currently supplies only 6 thousand of the company's passengers per year. The tour operator wants to increase the share of this market to 15 thousand by 2020.
The seriousness of the plans is confirmed by the introduction of Russian-language service on the company’s most modern liner, Symphony of the Seas. According to Natalya Andronova, suppliers make such decisions when the market potential begins to grow. Moreover, other players have already taken similar steps: for example, for the first time in world cruise history, Costa Cruises introduced a full Russian-language service on four ships. And in April, Carnival is launching a new liner, Carnival Horison, with Russian service, which will make cruises around Mediterranean Sea. In addition, on two Carnival ships cruising the Caribbean, a service for tourists from Russia operates throughout the year, despite the fact that this destination is far from our country.
Natalya Bentas confirmed: the sea cruise market in Russia has doubled in five years - from 40 to 80 thousand passengers per year. In her opinion, the Russian segment is growing faster than others in Europe, despite the fact that the company’s sales in the Russian Federation fell in 2016.
13.09.2017
The development of water tourism on Sakhalin is included in the list of projects of the Federal Target Program
It will start working in 2019
The federal target program for the development of domestic and inbound tourism will be updated - the previous mechanism for the development of the industry was recognized as ineffective. The new concept will pay special attention to water tourism - there are many problems in this area that need to be solved. As reported in St. Petersburg at the international conference "Water tourism" by the deputy head Federal agency tourism Alexey Konyushkov, a new concept of the program is currently being agreed upon. The first projects are already known, one of them includes Sakhalin region, reports SakhalinMedia news agency with reference to Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
“It (the new concept - editor’s note) will begin to operate in 2019, which will allow, within the framework of public-private partnerships and the cluster approach, to expand state support for tourism, and water tourism in particular,” explained Alexey Konyushkov. “The new version of the program includes the selection of regional projects on promising tourist areas for the development of water tourism, which will receive special funding."
The first projects are already known - this is the promising destination "Volga Way", uniting Samara, Nizhny Novgorod and Ulyanovsk region, Republics of Tatarstan, Chuvashia and Mari El. The second direction includes cruises, sanatorium-resort treatment with elements of beach tourism in Astrakhan, Dagestan and Kalmykia, the third - "Russian Arctic" (Murmansk, Arkhangelsk region, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Sakha), the fourth - "Amur" with cruises on the river of the same name, the fifth direction of water tourism - Kamchatka Territory and Sakhalin. The list will be expanded.
“It is possible to combine budgetary and extra-budgetary funds within the framework of the program,” State Duma deputy, head of the subcommittee on tourism Sergei Krivonosov told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. “Relatively speaking, according to the old target program, three rubles of private investments per ruble of budget funds were assumed, and the difficult situation with loans in the country has led to many businessmen taking on impossible obligations."
According to him, it makes sense to combine low-cost loans for small and medium-sized businesses with federal funds, and then businesses will be interested in working in passenger water transportation.
The number of cruise tourists around the world is growing, projected to reach almost 26 million in 2017.
Director of the association of tour operators "Tourpomosch" Alexander Osaulenko cited data from the International Association of Cruise Lines - the number of cruise tourists in the world is growing, in 2017, according to forecasts, it will be almost 26 million people. In Russia there is a slight increase in marine tourism, but mainly due to the Baltic Sea, which is among the top popular cruise destinations in the world. According to him, the current capacity of Russian ports is 15-20 percent higher than the activity of passenger ship calls.
To attract tourists, you first need to know where to moor. The quay wall in Vladivostok was reconstructed, and the pier in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was updated this year. If previously one ship came here per quarter, landing in the bay and delivering tourists to the shore by boat, now there is a demand. First of all, American companies are interested in routes with stops at the port of Petropavlovsk.
