For all the talk of the burgeoning demand for cruising, cruise holidays make up just one per cent of all vacations taken by Australians.
Speaking at a Sydney event marking the announcement of Norwegian Cruise Line’s latest Prima class vessel, Norwegian Luna, NCL Vice President and Managing Director Asia-Pacific Ben Angell said that currently there has “never been more demand for cruising”, after a record year for the industry in 2023 and more to come in 2024.
“Global passenger volume reached 31.7 million, surpassing 2019 by six per cent,” said Angell, who is also Chair of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in Australasia.
“Intent to cruise amongst cruisers is at a high 82 per cent; the average age is dropping – currently around 46; and cruising is finding new audiences across all age groups and life stages.”
Citing CLIA’s 2024 Sentiment and Intent survey, he added that the majority (71 per cent) of international travellers are also considering taking their first cruise.
Despite this, Angell said, “cruising today makes up just one per cent of holidays… so the opportunity is clear”. Opportunity is the keyword here.
“In 2023, 85 per cent of Aussies who cruised, did so within Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific,” he told guests at the event (including Karryon), which was held at InterContinental Sydney’s Aster Bar.
“Just 200,000 Australians cruised in other parts of the world – this versus 10 million outbound Australian travellers, of which many assume about half, so 5 million, are travelling for leisure.”
So while the number of Aussies taking holidays at sea has overtaken pre-pandemic levels, “rising to 1.25 million in ’23, slightly more than the 1.24 million who sailed in 2019”, according to Angell, there’s still plenty of growth potential – particularly in the fly/cruise market.
“Whilst there are undoubtedly challenges in the local cruising sector, there’s almost uncapped opportunity for growth in fly/cruise – when Australians travel to an international country to join a cruise,” he stated.
“And this is NCL’s focus from this region.”
It has a strong foothold in Australia too, from which to build even more business.
“NCL posted a record-breaking ’23 and entered 2024 at an all-time high-booked position,” Angell said.
“As value and convenience trend up on travellers’ list of priorities, there’s never been a better time to position the exceptional value, convenience and almost endless variety an international cruise holiday offers.
“Fly/cruise presents an unbeatable holiday proposition, but it also provides a pathway for significant and sustainable growth in cruising for this region.”
On NCL’s value proposition, Angell claimed Norwegian had the reputation “as the best value at sea, one of the reasons we remain a firm favourite with those who’ve sailed with us before”.
“All research… points to the growing importance of value and holiday decisions, both [for] time and money. And driven by NCL’s guest-centric philosophy, our onboard inclusions are unrivalled. Freeing guests from having to worry about things that are most important to them, from drinks and dining to shore excursions and wifi.”
Into orbit
It’s confident it will only grow its market share with its newest ship, Norwegian Luna.
“At 322 meters long, 156,000 gross tons and carrying 3,550 guests at double occupancy, Norwegian Luna is the fourth of NCL Prima Class ships and sister to Norwegian Aqua, which debuts next March. Luna will boast an overall 10 per cent size and capacity increase from Prima and Viva,” Angell said.
“A variety of NCL’s elevated guest experiences will also make their comeback on Norwegian Luna, including Ocean Boulevard, a 46,000 square foot walkway which wraps around the entire ship to bring guests closer to the sea; Vibe Beach Club, an adults-only open-air lounge; Infinity Beach, which provides sweeping views of the ocean, and an expansive upper pool deck equipped with day beds for soaking up the sun.”
For more details on NCL‘s newest Prima class ship, read our wrap of the big reveal on Thursday.
And read our story on Norwegian’s event-of-the-year contender in honour of Luna.
