CRUISE TRENDS - SEATRADE

DIARIO DEL PUERTO Relaunch 7 by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), only 5.8 million passenger embarkations were recorded in 2020, 81% less than in 2019, when the figure reached 29.7 million. Jobs were also down 51% in 2020 compared to 2019, with 576,000 jobs compared to 1.17 million in 2019. As was to be expected, these figures brought serious economic repercussions. According to CLIA, the global cruise sector posted a total economic contribution of $63.4 billion, compared to $154 billion in 2019, a drop of 59%. However, cruise lines assure that bookings are up, thanks to the implementation of health protocols to provide safe services. This higher volume of bookings is leading to a recovery in employment and the revival of local and national economies, as tourism is jumpstarted. According to CLIA, ”over 75% of ocean capacity has already been recovered” since business started up again in the third quarter of 2020. In the same vein, the Association expects to ”recover almost 100% of capacity by August 2022, when 272 cruise ships are expected to be in operation, with an average capacity of 2,126 passengers”, although it expects full recovery to come in 2023. Cruise lines assure bookings are up, thanks to the implementation of health protocols to provide safe services Costa Cruises’ new flagship is the Costa Toscana, a ship powered by Liquefied Natural Gas and equipped with the latest technology to respond to the company’s sustainability objectives, which are in line with the SDGs of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda.

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