Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) is projecting that Vancouver’s 2016 cruise season will be its busiest since 2009.
It forecasts approximately 829,000 passengers will depart from or arrive in Vancouver next year; 2009’s passenger total was 898,473. That remains far below 2002’s 1,125,252 cruise passenger total, but it’s substantially up from 2010 numbers, when Vancouver attracted what was then a 17-year low of 578,986.
The current cruise season is the longest in many years.
It is not slated to end until December 15, when Princess Cruises departs Vancouver for Los Angeles, Port Metro Vancouver cruise services manager Carmen Ortega told Business in Vancouver.
“To have a ship in Vancouver in December is unusual,” she said.
Ortega is sticking to her estimate from earlier this year that the 2015 cruise season will have a total of about 805,000 passengers on 32 ships making 228 voyages.
She estimated that next year’s passenger total will be 3% higher despite the number of sailings dropping by one to 227. That is because cruise lines are using bigger ships.
PMV’s passenger counts have slid by less than 1% in each of the past two years so a rise in total passengers is good news for the sector.
Ortega said Crystal Cruises will start and finish cruises in Vancouver in 2016. She added that the cruise line has not “home-ported” in Vancouver since 2005.
“Instead, they’ve just done one-off calls.”
Hong Kong-based Crystal is expected to make six sailings to Alaska from Vancouver, using two of its ships.
“Vancouver is a popular destination with our guests, which is why we continue to offer sailings with calls in Vancouver,” said Crystal spokeswoman Molly Morgan.
(Photo: Vancouver's cruise sector is expected next year to have its first increase in passengers in a few years | Port Metro Vancouver)
Stability in Vancouver’s cruise sector is buttressed by increasing global demand for cruising as well as a low Canadian dollar, given that many cruise tourists also spend time in Vancouver.
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) released a study last week that showed that global demand for cruising had reached 22.04 million passengers in 2014. That’s up 3.4% compared with 2013 and up 68% compared with the 13.1 million passengers who went on a cruise in 2004.
North Americans are world leaders when it comes to cruising, according to the study, by accounting for 55% of the passengers. Europeans accounted for 29% of the passengers.
“The potential for new cruise passenger growth is huge,” said CLIA’s acting CEO, Cindy D’Aoust. “Apart from North America and Europe, other regions of the world account for nearly 85% of the world’s population, yet only represent 16% of cruisers. That reflects a tremendous opportunity for the cruise industry.”
Ortega added that Vancouver is ideally situated to take advantage of any uptick in Asian demand for cruises and pointed to the increase in the number of direct flights now connecting Vancouver and China.
More than 70 flights per week link Vancouver International Airport and mainland Chinese cities during the summer and about 59 during the winter. •
