We’re on board Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas today for a special presentation and luncheon hosted by the International Cruise Council of Australasia (ICCA), to announce the all-important cruise industry statistics for 2010. And the good news for the industry, as well as consumers, is that our market is still showing healthy growth! Some of the key statstics include:

• Total passengers taking a cruise in 2010: 466,692, which is an impressive increase of 27 per cent.
• 2.1 per cent of the Australian population took a cruise, up from 1.7 per cent in 2009.
• South Pacific was the most popular destination accounting for 37 of passengers overall, followed by Australia at 19 per cent and New Zealand at 10 per cent.
• Ocean cruising in Europe was also up by an amazing 51 per cent, while river cruising increased by 12 per cent.
• Short cruises are more popular, with 37 per cent taking a cruise of 5 days or less.
• Number of days at sea: 4,722,000.

2010 is a record year!

All of this is good news for cruising, and given the finalisation of the building of a new cruise terminal in Sydney, coupled with new ships and more choice for cruise fans, next Wave Season is shaping up to be the biggest year ever for high seas holidays in Australia.