It’s All Good News At Cruise360

Cruise company executives, industry suppliers and travel retailers at this year’s Cruise360 Conference in Vancouver got the good news that the global cruise sector was maintaining a steady growth rate, exceeding projections that were set for 2015, reports PressToday’s western editor, Ted Davis.

The numerical evidence was unveiled on the first full day of the conference, which was held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, directly adjacent to the cruise ship berths at Canada Place. It was presented by CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association), and also said that passenger numbers for 2016 were on track to surpass projections.

The industry reported a total of 23.2 million passengers on ocean cruises globally in 2015, up from a projection of 23 million, and a 4% increase over 2014. As a result of steady year-over-year increases, CLIA has modified 2016 expectations and is now predicting that 24.2 million travellers will set sail on ocean cruises around the world.

Much of the industry’s growth can be attributed to emerging regions of the world. In 2015, Asia experienced the most growth year over year in ocean cruise passengers with an impressive 24% increase from 2014 to 2015. That represents over two million ocean cruise passengers in 2015. While Asia continues to see record growth in the cruise industry, Australia is not far behind. The region, which includes Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, experienced a 14% increase in ocean cruise passengers from 2014 to 2015. Last year, more than 1.1 million ocean cruise travellers originated in Australia.

Pictured above: NCL brought the onboard cast of “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” to the lavish proceedings that marked the CLIA Hall of Fame dinner at Cruise360 in Vancouver last week.

And in the photos below, Canadian Travel Press brought its magic to Vancouver and put many of those attending Cruise360 on the cover of CTP.

Check it out …