Madrid, January 14, 2019 – According to CLIA Spain, during the first nine months of 2018, 418,000 Spaniards enjoyed a cruise as a holiday option, which represents an increase of 1.7% compared to the same period in 2017.
In the first quarter of 2018, 48,000 Spaniards enjoyed a cruise, 6% more than in the same quarter of the previous year. In the second quarter, 127,000 cruised, a 9.3% increase. Meanwhile, in the third quarter, 242,000 Spanish passengers traveled on cruises, 2.7% fewer than in the same period of the previous year. According to data released today by CLIA Spain, the average Spanish cruise passenger in 2018 was 45 years old —with the most common age range being between 50 and 59—and stayed on the cruise for an average of 7.3 days.
Cruises in the Western Mediterranean were the most popular in the first three quarters of 2018, chosen by 200,000 passengers, representing almost half (47.8%) of the total. This was followed by the Eastern Mediterranean with 78,000 passengers (18%) and Northern Europewith 52,000 (12.4%). Next were the Caribbean/Bahamas, where 30,000 Spanish cruise passengers traveled (7.1%), the Balticwith 26,000 passengers (6.2%), and the Canary Islands with 13,000 passengers (3.1%).
According to Alfredo Serrano, National Director of CLIA Spain, “Cruise travel undoubtedly remains one of the most popular vacation options for Spaniards, and its potential is still enormous. So far this year, we have grown by 2%, and we expect the figure to be even more positive by the end of the year. While it is true that growth compared to previous years has moderated in this third quarter, we will have to wait for the final figures.”
According to the national director of CLIA Spain, "publishing the quarterly report of the Spanish issuer's data provides valuable sectoral information, both for specialized agents and for the market in general."
“Likewise, Serrano, “we at CLIA Spain to thank the shipping companies for their contribution in providing this information and the satisfaction that the results on the outbound market shown in the Report.” These results add to the excellent data on the inbound market already provided by State Ports for November 2018 and accumulated for the year, which indicated that cruise passenger traffic grew by 11.45% during this period, exceeding 9.5 million movements.
Passenger volume – Spain – CLIA data
Passenger volume by destination – CLIA data
