Record year for New Zealand cruise sector

Cruise passenger numbers in New Zealand reached a record level in 2013, according to a new report.
Launched in Auckland today, the 2013 Cruise Industry Source Market Report revealed that while New Zealand is still a small source market for the global cruise industry, its strong growth rate of 23% exceeded all major cruise passenger markets last year, including North America (+3%) and Australia (+20%).
The record result marks the second largest year-on-year increase since the statistics were first compiled in 2006, and means that 1.3% of the New Zealand population took a cruise in 2013.
“New Zealand is a young cruise market and this impressive growth shows that cruising is very much on the horizon for a lot of Kiwi travellers,” said Brett Jardine, general manager of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia.
“We’ve now seen the number of New Zealand cruisers double over the past seven years with the market experiencing an enviable annual average increase of 14%. With more ships being deployed in the region in the coming years, we expect to see continued growth out of New Zealand,” he added.
Local cruises in the Oceania region accounted for more than half of all Kiwi cruise passengers last year, with the South Pacific taking 31% the market. But cruises to Australia saw the strongest growth, jumping 48% to a record 7,855 passengers.
River cruising numbers also grew strongly, rising 19% to break through the 4,000-passenger mark for the first time. Europe continues to dominate long-haul destinations, with 19% of the market.
In terms of length of cruise, more than half of New Zealand passengers took cruises of between eight and 14 days last year, as New Zealanders spent an estimated 656,000 days at sea in 2013
Source: Travel Daily