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Latest trends in cruising reveal a dynamic sector offering a breadth of experiences, according to the new CLIA 2025 State of the Cruise Industry Report

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the leading voice of the global cruise community, has released its annual State of the Cruise Industry report highlighting the industry’s vibrancy driven by travel trends, diversity of cruising choices, and innovative travel experiences aligned with increasing consumer demand.

“CLIA’s 2025 State of the Cruise Industry report shows that cruising continues to be one of the most dynamic and resilient sectors in tourism, growing in line with strong demand for cruise holidays, particularly among younger generations and new-to-cruise travelers,” said Bud Darr, President and CEO of CLIA. “The industry is also an essential economic driver, contributing over $168 billion to communities around the world, supporting 1.6 million jobs and investing tens of billions today in the sustainable fleet of the future.”

2025 Trends Showcasing a Vibrant Travel Sector

• First-time cruisers are driving growth with 31% of passengers in the last two years being new to cruise, reflecting the sector’s high satisfaction ratings and ability to attract new customers.
• Intent to cruise: 82% of those who have cruised plan to cruise again. Gen-X and Millennials are among the most enthusiastic cruisers, drawn to the variety of cruise experiences, ability to visit multiple destinations and value of a cruise holiday.
• Multi-generational travel: Cruise holidays offer experiences for all ages – nearly one third of cruise guests sail with three or more generations.
• Cruise travel earns higher satisfaction ratings compared to other holiday choices as shown in repeat factors – 25% of repeat cruisers sail two or more times per year; 14% of cruise travelers cruise twice a year; and 11% of cruisers take three to five cruises a year.
• Expedition and exploration cruises are the fastest-growing segments of cruise with 22% more passengers choosing these voyages in 2024 over 2023.

Cruising Features Choice, Value, and Sustainability

• Variety of choice: With over 300 ocean-going cruise ships and thousands of itineraries to choose from, there is a cruise for everyone. From family-friendly adventures to high-end cultural experiences to expedition journeys, the cruise industry is constantly evolving to fulfill the interests and aspirations of travelers.
• Responsible tourism: Cruise guests book their trips well in advance and cruise companies reserve port calls a year or more in advance, demonstrating that cruise tourism is managed tourism.
• Cruise is pursuing a variety of sustainable alternative energy sources and investing in propulsion technologies with conversion capabilities that can be adapted for use of low-to-zero-emissions fuels once they are available at scale.
• By 2028, 50% of all new cruise ship capacity will have engines that can run on LNG/methanol and are able to switch to bio- or synthetic-LNG with little or no engine modifications.
• More than 61% of CLIA’s fleet is equipped to be able to connect to onshore power, a figure set to reach 72% by 2028.

Important Economic Contribution

While only 2% of global travel and tourism, the cruise sector has a significant economic impact in communities around the world, generating $168 billion in global economic impact in 2023 – the highest on record. In the U.S, the cruise industry supported over $65 billion in total economic impact in 2023, supporting 290,000 jobs and $25 billion in wages and salaries. In Europe, the cruise industry supported €55 billion in total economic output in 2023, supporting 440,000 jobs.
Cruise tourism made a significant contribution to the Greek economy as well this year, confirming the sector’s strong growth momentum in the region. Specifically, in 2023, cruise tourism contributed a total of €2 billion to the Greek economy (compared to €1.4 billion in 2022), primarily from passenger spending and cruise companies' operational expenses. It also supported 22,600 jobs in the country (compared to 14,300 in 2022).
Greece is a key cruise hub in the Mediterranean, both as a popular destination and for homeporting – with Piraeus playing a leading role in this area. The country is successfully capitalizing on the strong growth of the cruise industry in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which in 2024 welcomed 1.86 million cruise passengers from around the world, compared to 1.54 million in 2023. Of these, 1.1 million came from Europe – up from 966,000 in 2023.
In addition, the cruise industry’s impact benefits communities around the world through local sourcing of goods and services, and spending before and after each cruise as 69% of passengers stay one or more nights in a hotel. Additionally, 6 in 10 cruisers return to a destination they first visited by cruise, extending the economic impact of cruising to communities well into the future.
• The global cruise industry welcomed 34.6 million cruise passengers in 2024, with 37.7 million expected in 2025.
• Europe remains a key market, with a +2.8% increase in European source passengers in 2024.
• The top five European source markets are Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and France.
• In 2024, close-at-home cruising remained attractive, with the Mediterranean region staying the most popular destination for European cruise passengers, followed by the Caribbean and Northern Europe.
• CLIA member lines will welcome 11 new ships to the global fleet in 2025; 56 new CLIA member ocean-going ships are on order from 2025-2036, representing a $56.8 billion investment and proof of the confidence in cruising’s future.
• To put the industry growth in context, over 70% of cruise ships are small to mid-size – both now and through the 2030 orderbook.