Cruise trade 'paused' after tragedy
The Costa Concordia ship tragedy earlier this year caused "a pause" in UK cruise holiday bookings, it has been revealed.
But numbers have since picked up, said David Dingle, chief executive of the Carnival UK cruise company.
A total of 32 lives were lost when the Costa Concordia struck rocks and turned on its side off the coast of Italy in January.
Mr Dingle, a member of the European Cruise Council (ECC) executive, said: "After the tragic Costa Concordia incident the world's cruise industry moved swiftly to review and improve operational safety measures, and to reassure customers that cruising is a safe and enjoyable holiday.
© 2013 Press Association
But numbers have since picked up, said David Dingle, chief executive of the Carnival UK cruise company.
A total of 32 lives were lost when the Costa Concordia struck rocks and turned on its side off the coast of Italy in January.
Mr Dingle, a member of the European Cruise Council (ECC) executive, said: "After the tragic Costa Concordia incident the world's cruise industry moved swiftly to review and improve operational safety measures, and to reassure customers that cruising is a safe and enjoyable holiday.
"Booking volumes in the UK understandably paused after the tragedy while people sought assurance but the British market has seen numbers pick up, despite economic concerns which are influencing consumer spending."
His comments came as the ECC announced that the cruise industry generated direct expenditure of £2.28 billion last year in the UK - up 10.2% on 2010.
The European total was £12.1 billion, up 3.3%, with the UK spending second only to Italy and UK growth only behind France. Together with indirect expenditure the total contribution of the global cruise industry to the European economy rose to a record £29.66 billion last year.
The number of UK passengers who took a cruise in 2011 increased by 10.9% to 1.7 million which represented 28% of the continent's cruise market. European passenger numbers rose by 9% to 6.2 million. The global figure for 2011 was 20.6 million passengers.
The cruise industry last year provided employment in the UK for 63,834 people, of whom 14,486 worked directly for cruise lines. Southampton was the second busiest European port in 2011, used by 1.5 million cruise passengers, and behind only Venice.
The ECC said the economic benefits gained at Southampton amount to £2.5 million every time a cruise ship arrives in port or departs, with the city and region receiving an annual boost of more than £300 million from the cruise industry.
His comments came as the ECC announced that the cruise industry generated direct expenditure of £2.28 billion last year in the UK - up 10.2% on 2010.
The European total was £12.1 billion, up 3.3%, with the UK spending second only to Italy and UK growth only behind France. Together with indirect expenditure the total contribution of the global cruise industry to the European economy rose to a record £29.66 billion last year.
The number of UK passengers who took a cruise in 2011 increased by 10.9% to 1.7 million which represented 28% of the continent's cruise market. European passenger numbers rose by 9% to 6.2 million. The global figure for 2011 was 20.6 million passengers.
The cruise industry last year provided employment in the UK for 63,834 people, of whom 14,486 worked directly for cruise lines. Southampton was the second busiest European port in 2011, used by 1.5 million cruise passengers, and behind only Venice.
The ECC said the economic benefits gained at Southampton amount to £2.5 million every time a cruise ship arrives in port or departs, with the city and region receiving an annual boost of more than £300 million from the cruise industry.
© 2013 Press Association