Cruise boom 2025: growth, challenges and new trends!

Cruise boom 2025: growth, challenges and new trends!

The cruise industry is experiencing a boom that is unprecedented in recent decades. Passenger numbers are rising from just under 2 million in the 1980s to a projected nearly 38 million in 2025. However, despite this significant growth, the industry's growth is described as non-linear, meaning markets may eventually face declining trends and need to reinvent themselves. These challenges are already noticeable today Capital reported.

Additionally, the cruise industry is drawing attention to the fact that the cruise product is in a mature phase of its life cycle. The industry is facing difficulty in achieving sustained growth in demand, reflected in falling prices and increasing competition on costs. Despite these challenges, cruising remains one of the most popular forms of vacation, particularly for Germans and those from the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Germany's role in the cruise market

Germany plays a significant role in the global cruise market, ranking second after the USA. In 2023, around 3.7 million German tourists went on a cruise. The distinction between ocean cruises and river cruises becomes clear, as the majority of passengers in Germany prefer ocean cruises. The average duration of an ocean cruise is 10.1 days, while river cruises average just 7.4 days.

Around 15 million Germans prefer cruises as a vacation trip. The main reasons for this are high comfort, convenience and the opportunity to experience many different destinations. The attractive leisure activities on board also contribute to the popularity of cruises. However, there are also critical points, such as the short length of stay at the destinations and concerns about the environmental friendliness of the ships.

The leading providers

In Germany, AIDA Cruises took the lead in the ranking of cruise providers with the best service in 2023, followed by TUI Cruises. Particularly worth mentioning are the AIDAnova and AIDAcosma, each with a passenger capacity of 5,200 people. TUI Cruises recently achieved sales of around 656 million euros, with the largest ships, Mein Schiff 1 and 2, each able to accommodate 2,894 passengers.

The river cruise sector is dominated by 1AVista and A-ROSA, with A-ROSA's largest ship accommodating 280 passengers. However, the industry has also experienced dark times, particularly due to the Corona crisis, which led to a dramatic decline in passenger numbers in 2020 and 2021. The number of cruise passengers in Germany fell to 950,000 in 2021, which meant a decline of around two thirds compared to 2019.

The economic impact of this crisis has been significant: the industry's economic contribution fell from $1.5 billion in 2019 to just $63.4 million in 2020. It is estimated that around half of cruise industry workers lost their jobs during this difficult time.

In summary, it can be said that the cruise industry is facing major challenges, but at the same time it also has strong support from the population. Despite all the difficulties, the concept of cruising remains attractive and the industry will need to continue to innovate to meet travelers' wants and needs. Loud Statista The trend continues to rise, which indicates that demand remains high.