The number of Australians who took an ocean cruise during 2024 reached 1.32 million, a 5.9% increase on the previous year.
The ‘2024 Source Market Report for Australia’ from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) also shows a 14% increase in the number of overseas visitors cruising in this region, with 247,000 passengers coming to sail in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.
“Australia has long been home to some of the world’s most dedicated cruise fans and the number of Aussie cruisers continues to rise,” said Joel Katz, CLIA Managing Director in Australasia.
“More Australians are cruising within our local region and more are cruising in other parts of the world, which highlights why cruising is such a rewarding way to travel.”
Close-to home itineraries continued to be the preferred choice for Australian cruisers during 2024, with almost 1.08 million sailing within Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific (up from 1.06 million in 2023).
At the same time, the portion of Australians who travelled to long-haul destinations to cruise also increased – from 15.2% in 2023 to 18.5% in 2024 – reflecting a trend towards more fly-cruise holidays.
The average age of an Australian cruise passenger was the same as the previous year at 48.4 years, down from 50.4 years in 2019.
Younger passengers continued to be among the most enthusiastic, and one third of Australian cruisers (33%) were aged under 40.
Key findings from CLIA’s 2024 Source Market Report for Australia include:
# 1.32 million Australians took an ocean cruise during 2024, up from 1.25 million in 2023 and a further increase on the pre-pandemic figure of 1.24 million in 2019. The result is also close to Australia’s biggest year for cruising in 2018, when 1.35 million people sailed.
# Cruising’s market penetration rate in Australia was close to 5% – almost one in every 20 Australians took an ocean cruise in 2024, one of the highest rates in the world.
# The average duration of an ocean cruise taken by Australians in 2024 was 8.0 days, slightly down from 8.1 days in 2023, reflecting the popularity of shorter itineraries.
# The average age of an Australian cruise passenger was 48.4 years in 2024, the same as in 2023 but down from 50.4 years in 2019, reflecting the growth in cruising among younger generations.
# The most popular cruise region for Australians in 2024 was Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific (81.5%), followed by the Mediterranean (6.2%), Asia (3.3%), Alaska (2.3%), the Caribbean (1.2), Hawaii & the US West Coast (1.1%), Northern Europe (1.1%), and Expedition Cruises (0.7%), and Trans-Atlantic & World Cruises (0.5%).
# The number of overseas visitors who cruised in Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific during 2024 was 247,000, an increase of 14% on 2023.
# Worldwide, a record 34.6 million people took an ocean cruise during 2024, a 9.3% increase on the previous record of 31.7 million in 2023.
# At 1.32 million passengers, Australia was again the world’s fourth largest cruise market in 2024, behind the United States (19.12 million), Germany (2.57 million) and the United Kingdom (2.34 million).
While demand for cruising remains strong in Australia, Mr Katz said more work was needed to foster a thriving cruise industry into the future.
“Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific are incredibly popular cruise destinations but they are also a challenging environment for cruise lines to operate in, so we need a regional focus on encouraging cruise ship deployment in local waters,” he said.
“Demand is strong, but we need governments, destinations and industry stakeholders to work together to address the high costs and regulatory difficulties we experience in the region.
“Cruising supports many thousands of local jobs, but we are going to suffer a decline in cruise ship deployment in this region while other global destinations reap the economic rewards.”
Previous figures released last year by CLIA and the Australian Cruise Association (ACA) showed a record economic impact from cruise tourism during the 2023-24 financial year, providing more than $8.43 billion for the national economy.
The CLIA-ACA Economic Impact Assessment found more than 26,000 jobs were supported by cruise tourism around the country.
