Madrid, October 17, 2019 – The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has once again published aggregated data on the outbound market figures, information that provides added value to both specialized travel agents and the Spanish cruise market itself.
According to CLIA Spain, during the first half of this year, 185,000 Spaniards enjoyed a cruise as a vacation option, representing a 5.7% increase compared to the first half of 2018. In the first quarter of 2019, 50,000 Spaniards enjoyed a cruise, 3.8% more than in the previous quarter, and 135,000 did so in the second quarter, 9.3% more than in the previous period.
Regarding the duration of the cruise, Spaniards spent an average of 7.5 days on cruise in the first half of 2019, compared to 7.3 days the previous year.
Cruises in the Western Mediterranean were the most popular in the first half of the year, chosen by 89,000 passengers, which is almost half of the total, followed by the Eastern Mediterranean with 27,000 passengers, Northern Europe with 15,000 passengers, and Africa and the Middle East, where 14,000 passengers traveled, placing it for the first time ahead of the Caribbean/Bahamas (13,000 passengers) and the Canary Islands (10,000 passengers) as the preferred destination for Spanish cruise passengers.
According to data from CLIA Spain, the average age of Spanish cruise passengers in this period of 2019 was 49 years, compared to 48 years in the same semester of the previous year, although it is expected that the age will decrease in the third quarter due to school holidays, the time of greatest incidence of children and young people on cruises.
According to Alfredo Serrano, National Director of CLIA Spain, while the data for the first half of 2019—less representative in terms of passengers than the second half—is not definitive, as it represents approximately one-third of the annual passenger traffic for the Spanish market, “the strong performance of the market in the first half suggests that the growth trend that began three years ago is continuing. We are confident that 2019 will end with a positive balance and passenger figures higher than those of 2018, when 530,000 Spanish passengers were recorded (CLIA European Market Report 2018).”
