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Cruising coming home as more Brits plan to cruise from the UK

More Britons are choosing to begin their ocean cruise holiday from a UK port than ever before, according to figures released by the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA).

The economic slowdown will impact of the number of passengers taking a cruise holiday in 2012 after a period of sustained growth, but the upside is that British ports will benefit from a switch to cruise-from-home.

In 2012, 835,000 passengers will join their cruise ship in Britain - a 28 per cent increase over the last two years - as the choice of destinations continues to expand.

This year, more than 760,000 passengers will have started their cruise holiday from one of the 20 UK departure ports, sailing to destinations including Russia, Scandinavia, the Norwegian fjords, Iceland, the Mediterranean, America and closer to home, the coast of Britain and Ireland.

The year has been strong for the UK cruise industry with growth of more than five per cent.

Figures released at The Travel Convention in Palma show an estimated 1.73 million passengers will take a cruise holiday in 2012, an increase of just over one per cent on the 2011 figure of 1.71 million passengers.

William Gibbons of the PSA said 2011 has proved a good year for the industry with the value and quality of a cruise holiday continuing to appeal, together with companies introducing new ports of call and itineraries to a wide range of exciting destinations.

“Looking forward, we anticipate modest growth in 2012 as capacity slows following the reduction in the number of new ships being built,” he continued. “However, we remain confident that growth will continue over the coming years as companies introduce new ships.

“The great choice of ships now providing cruise holidays from the UK to a wide variety of destinations will lead to more passengers sailing from British ports.”