May 14, 2007 - More Brits than ever are taking to the seas, it is revealed today.

According to the Passenger Shipping Association, 1.2 million Britons took an ocean cruise in 2006 - 12 per cent more than the 1.07 million in 2005 and double the number who took a cruise a decade ago.

The UK cruise market showed the biggest growth rate of all European source market countries, and, with the British taking longer cruises than in 2005, there was an impressive 19 per cent increase in the overall number of cruise nights booked.

This year the PSA has also conducted research into why people choose to cruise and what they look for when booking a holiday afloat. The most important factors for an enjoyable cruise are good food and drink (35 per cent) followed by the itinerary (27 per cent), standards of accommodation, and then value for money and price.Ê Good private and public facilities are also important, as is the range and quality of entertainment available on board.

Interestingly the research also found that whilst 11 per cent of those questioned have been on a cruise in the last five years, 33 per cent is considering a cruise in the next five years, which demonstrates the huge potential for further growth.

The key findings from the Annual Cruise Review were:

Cruise v Package holidays

The continued growth in cruise holidays is all the more impressive when seen in context against the stagnation facing the overall package holiday market which, since peaking at more than 20.6 million foreign inclusive holidays sold in 2002 has slipped back eight per cent to less than 19 million in 2006.
The cruise industry's share of this market has increased 65 per cent in five years and doubled over ten years and in 2006 one in every 16 package holidaymakers chose a cruise.

Ex-UK growth

Cruises taken from a UK port also increased by 12 per cent, to over 450,000 Brits.
This trend looks set to continue, with significant increased ex-UK capacity coming from Carnival, Royal Caribbean International (RCI), MSC Cruises, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line and NCL Freestyle Cruising.

Fly-cruise

The fly-cruise market increased by 13 per cent last year to 753,000. Contributors to this increase included Island Cruises' new Island Star and NCL's positioning of two of its ships in Europe. Looking to this year, Ocean Village doubled its capacity with the launch of Ocean Village Two, and ThomsonÊhas introducedÊits fifth ship, the adults-only Calypso, in May.

Mediterranean magic

The Mediterranean was by far the most popular cruise destination for the British in 2006, growing 22 per cent and accounting for around 38 per cent of the 1.2 million cruises booked.
As the trend for short duration cruises (two to seven days) from UK ports grows - attracting first-time passengers, groups/parties - so the numbers travelling to the Med will grow significantly. The Caribbean is the second most popular destination, with 17 per cent of the market.

Growth of UK port cruises among all nationalities

A record 50 UK ports received visits from cruise ships in 2006. The number of all passengers embarking in the UK grew 15 per cent to 576,000 passengers, of which non-UK passengers accounted for 127,000 - a growth of 27 per cent year on year.
Ports of call passengers to UK ports increased 22 per cent to exceed 392,000 at UK ports in 2006. The total value of cruise passenger expenditure at UK embarkation or port of call ports was over Û290 million (£197m). Approximately Û67 million (£45 million) of this was spent by overseas residents.
Scotland and the South of England continued to attract the most cruise visitors, however the East of England had the biggest increase at four times its 2005 figure.

Luxury

UK sales of ultra-luxury cruises remained just short of 20,000 in 2006 - a 1.6 per cent share of the UK market. Luxury passenger numbers have doubled since 2002 and after several years of consolidation by the eight lines in the PSA's Exclusive Collection, most cruise lines are in an expansive mood once again.

Niche cruises

The PSA's niche product offering exploded in 2006 with four cruise lines joining the PSA's Specialist Cruise Collection, contributing to a growth of 27 per cent in niche, including river, cruises.
The 11 Specialist Cruise Collection members offer itineraries that focus on the destination rather than the onboard experience and visit exotic places best experience by sea, such as the Galapagos, Antarctica, the Arctic Circle including Greenland, Iceland and Norwegian Fjords, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the remote Kimberly region of Australia.

Longer voyages

For only the second time in ten years, cruises of 8-14 days proved more popular with British cruise passengers in 2006 than those of five to seven days.
Longer cruises accounted for 43 per cent of sales compared with 39 per cent for five to seven days.
This trend is mainly due to the upsurge in bookings of ex-UK port cruises to the Mediterranean, which average 13 days.

Costing less

The average price paid in the UK for a 2006 cruise was £1,314 - a 5 per cent increase on 2005's £1,253 - however, this figure is misleading, as the real cost per day of a cruise holiday actually fell slightly in 2006.
Summer cruises cost an average of £1,229, which was £38 (3 per cent) less than in 2005 with the higher average overall 2006 price being due to people booking longer, mainly winter cruises.
Over the year, cruise lines sold 19 per cent more cruise nights while increasing revenue only 16 per cent to £1.55bn.
On a per-day basis, cruises cost 1.5 per cent less: £130 in 2006 compared with £132 in 2005.

Travel agents are the way to book

As the cruise industry grows, travel agents continue to be the cruise lines' key sales partners - producing 82 per cent of UK cruise bookings in 2006.

For information all aspects of cruising, including free fact-sheets and information on over 30 cruise lines call the Passenger Shipping Association on 020 7436 2449.