New figures released by the association this week revealed a rise of 0.5% to 1,959,000 UK passengers taking to the seas during the past 12 months, up from 1,950,000 in 2016.
This is compared to a 5.6% rise for 2016 and 8.8% for 2015. Andy Harmer, senior vice-president and director of Clia UK & Ireland, said he believed the UK cruise sector to be “one of the most exciting and innovative” globally, but admitted “people still have misconceptions”.
“We, as both an association and as an industry, will continue to tackle those, and have work to do to communicate just what cruising can offer.”
However, Harmer stressed that “growth should never be taken for granted” and “having another record year is a very positive message”, adding that he believed the UK was still on track to hit the two million passenger target by 2020.
Within its findings, Clia reported that the Mediterranean remained the most popular destination for Brits, representing 37% of all sailings booked last year.
Cruises in Northern Europe saw an 8% boost against 2016, making it the second most popular region for British cruisers, beating the Caribbean, which saw a 3% increase in passengers against 2016 figures.
Elsewhere, “exploration” cruises to destinations such as the Antarctic, Arctic and Galapagos saw a 3% boost from the previous year.
Long-haul too saw a “significant” rise, Clia revealed, with bookings to Africa and the Middle East up almost 25% on 2016; Asian bookings up almost 22% and South America and the Panama Canal saw an increase of nearly 25%.
The largest growth was seen to Canada and New England itineraries which increased by 33% over the course of last year.
Nearer to home, figures revealed the number of passengers embarking at UK ports in 2017 increased to 1.1million – up 6% year-on-year.
