Asia Cruise Market Prediction: 7 Million Passengers a Year by 2020

By the end of the decade, Asian passengers will account for one in every five cruisers, about double the ratio today, Carnival Asia head Pier Luigi Foschi predicted at a cruise forum here. Foschi said the snowballing growth in Asia will deliver about 3.7 million passengers a year by 2017 and about 7 million by 2020.

By comparison, the Asia Cruise Association said that about 1.7 million Asian passengers cruised in 2011, or about 10% of CLIA's estimate of 16.4 million passengers globally for that year.

Foschi's forecast quantifies Carnival's view of the oft-discussed "potential" in cruising from China and other Asian countries. "The bulk of the real growth will be from China," Foschi said.

Carnival Corp. Chairman Micky Arison said in December that new Asia deployments for one or more Carnival brands will be announced by April. Carnival last week announced plans to open a sales office for Princess Cruises in Hong Kong, where officials are getting ready to open a large cruise terminal in June.

Princess also announced it will deploy a second ship in Japan in 2014 to offer summer cruises. The 2,670-passenger Diamond Princess and the 2,022-passenger Sun Princess will offer 42 cruises to 20 Asian ports next year.

The Seatrade Hong Kong Cruise Forum, held here, and where Foschi delivered his remarks, gathered several hundred Asian port directors, cruise line deployment executives, and shore excursion managers. The four-day conference explored cruise prospects for Hong Kong in light of China's growth and the opening of a new cruise terminal in Hong Kong later this year.

Source: Travel Weekly