The world’s cruise fleet is set to grow to more than 375 ships by 2026, based on existing orders and known withdrawals, according to the 2016-2017 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.
That is an increase of more than 55 ships from this year, but an ever bigger jump in passenger capacity as the new ships are bigger, The estimated annual passenger capacity this year is 23.6 million and is forecast to reach more than 33.5 million by 2026.
Growth in the North American market could go from an estimated capacity of 13.3 million passengers now, to more than 16 million by 2026.
European capacity is estimated to reach nearly 11 million by 2026, up from 6.3 million this year.
But the big jump could come in the Asia/Pacific region, going from nearly 4 million this year (including China and Australia) to nearly 6.5 million, based on announced ship deployments. And much of that growth is expected to come from the Chinese market.
The average annual passenger capacity increase based on new ship introductions and known deployments will be approximately 4.0 percent over the 11-year period, but 8 percent over the next five years, which will see most of the new orders entering service.
The orderbook contains ship orders through 2026.
About the Annual Report:
The Cruise Industry News Annual Report is the only book of its kind, presenting the worldwide cruise industry through 2025 in 350+ pages. Statistics are independently researched. Learn more by clicking here.
The report covers everything from new ships on order to supply-and-demand scenarios from 1987 through 2021+. Plus there is a future outlook, complete growth projections for each cruise line, regional market reports, and detailed ship deployment by region and market, covering all the cruise lines. New for 2016-2017 based on customer feedback are detailed Chinese market statistics and projections.
