Cruise is flourishing in the UK

Soton cruise


This article first appeared in Maritime UK's State of the maritime nation report, launched in Parliament during London International Shipping Week. 

The UK cruise industry in the UK is flourishing – record investment from cruise lines, record numbers of British holidaymakers taking a cruise and a strong increase in those choosing a British Isles cruise for their holiday.  The economic contribution of the UK cruise industry was £3.5 billion (direct) and £9.4 billion (total) in 2017*, and continues to grow.  The key economic activities of Britain’s cruise industry include corporate management, ship management, distribution and marketing, supply chain services, repairs and refurbishment and inbound cruise tourism. The world’s largest cruise corporations have major bases in the UK and provide significant business to the UK’s maritime services sector.

Each year more passengers embark on a cruise from a UK port and calls at British ports during a cruise continue to grow. These activities provide ever more UK employment, with over 82,000 jobs dependent on the cruise industry in 2017.

The annual CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) Cruise Review reported that last year 2,009,000 ocean cruises were taken by British passengers, surpassing the two million mark two years earlier than predicted. Add this to the 232,000 river cruises taken in 2018 – a growth of over 10 per cent from the previous year.  Cruising has become a mainstream holiday product in the UK, and a leading contributor to the nation’s leisure and maritime economies.

The number of cruise passengers embarking on a cruise from a UK port has steadily risen over the last 25 years. A UK cruise port survey found the number of embarkations from a UK port reached almost 1.2 million in 2018, compared with around 1.1 million in 2017. From 2008 to 2018, embarkation numbers in the UK have risen by almost 500,000, a 68% increase. Southampton is now Europe’s leading cruise embarkation port.

At the same time, over 1.64 million passengers visiting a UK port during the course of their cruise in 2018, and the five-year annual growth rate of this activity is 17%, with no sign of slowing down.  This brings welcome income to Britain’s coastal economies, often in remote parts of the country, and the cruise industry with paly a key role in the UK’s Coastal Powerhouse.

The UK cruise industry is committed to sustainable growth and places equal emphasis on both business growth and environmental improvement.  The industry has pledged its full support for achieving and exceeding IMO decarbonisation targets and welcomes the UK Government’s Net Zero challenge. It has made and continues to make significant operational and technical advancements to raise air quality standards, and next P&O Cruises’ new Iona will be Britain’s first LNG-powered cruise ship. At the same time the cruise industry has achieved major reductions in its vessels’ carbon footprints through speed optimization, technical enhancements and operating procedures.

Whilst parts of the travel industry cite negative impacts of Brexit uncertainty, the cruise industry appears well insulated, based both upon its continued strength and growth, and may well see positive gains once Brexit is resolved.  In a country with a rich maritime history, and at a time where the cruise holiday experience is reaching new demographics, the UK cruise is well placed to continue to benefit from the growing popularity of cruise holidays.

David Dingle is Chair of Carnival UK and writes on behalf of CLIA UK & Ireland.  


* Findings from a report conducted by the Business Research & Economic Advisors (BREA) on behalf of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)