PREPARED BY
BREA
Business Research & Economic Advisors
March 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
04
II.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE AND METHODS
06
III.
THE GERMAN CRUISE MARKET IN 2014
08
III.A.
Passengers Sourced from Germany
10
III.B.
Passenger Cruise Nights Sourced from Germany
12
III.C.
Cruise Revenues Generated by Passengers Sourced from Germany
14
III.D.
Average Length of a Cruise
17
III.E.
Average Age of German Passengers
17
III.F.
Cruise Destinations of German Passengers
18
IV.
EMPLOYMENT OF GERMAN RESIDENTS BY THE CRUISE INDUSTRY
20
V.
CRUISE PASSENGER TRAFFIC AT GERMAN PORTS
20
VI.
NEW CRUISE SHIP CONSTRUCTION
21
VII.
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE GERMAN OCEAN CRUISE MARKET – 2014
22
CLIA Germany & DRV
3
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A survey of German national and international cruise brands1 shows that the German cruise market remains
vibrant and continues to expand even in the face of a challenging economic environment. As presented in this
report, Germany as a source market for cruise passengers continues to provide a growing number of cruise
passengers. While the capacity dedicated to the German market continues to increase, the rate of expansion has
slowed over the past several years as the absolute volume of capacity has increased in size. The moderating
rate of growth in this capacity has also resulted in a slowing rate of growth in the number of passengers sourced
from Germany. Nonetheless, the growth in passengers sourced from Germany has continued to outpace the
growth of passengers sourced from most other major North American and European markets.
While German passengers predominantly purchase cruises from German national brands, approximately onethird of German passengers cruise on ships of the other major European and North American cruise brands.
Although German passengers visit destinations around the globe, European destinations still dominate the cruise
itineraries purchased by the passengers sourced from Germany, accounting for about 80% of all German
passengers.
The major findings of the research into the 2014 German cruise market are shown in Figure 1 and are as
follows. German national and international cruise brands sourced 1.77 million German nationals during 2014.
This was a 5.0% increase from the 1.69 million passengers sourced during 2013 and represented a new high for
the German cruise market.
Figure 1: Major Attributes of the German Cruise Market, 2013 and 2014
2013
2014
Yr/Yr Change
1,686,746
1,771,437
5.02%
German Passenger Cruise Nights
14,714,526
15,633,110
6.24%
Average Length of Cruise (Nights)
8.72
8.83
1.21%
Gross Cruise Revenues (Billions)2
€ 2.88
€ 3.11
8.17%
Net Cruise Revenues (NCR) (Billions)3
€ 2.52
€ 2.71
7.55%
€ 1,492
€ 1,530
2.55%
€ 171.01
€ 173.37
1.38%
50.2
50.4
0.40%
German Passengers
Average NCR per Passenger
Average NCR per Passenger Cruise Night
Average Age of German Passengers
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
1 The
terms cruise brands and cruise lines are used interchangeably in this report.
revenues are defined as all revenues collected from passengers from all sources including: cost of cruise (ticket revenues),
transportation to and from cruise, onboard revenues, shore excursions, etc.
3 Net cruise revenues (NCR) are defined as gross revenues minus the transportation cost of passengers to and from their port
of embarkation and disembarkation, primarily the cost of air transportation, but also including motor coach, rail, etc.
2 Gross
CLIA Germany & DRV
4
German passenger cruise nights also reached a new high of 15.6 million nights, an increase of 6.2% from the
total of 14.7 million nights in 2013. The higher growth rate for passenger cruise nights is directly related to the
increase in the average length of cruises purchased by passengers sourced from Germany which rose from 8.72
nights in 2013 to 8.83 nights in 2014. This increase is primarily the result of an increase in the average length of
cruises purchased by German nationals from the international brands.
Gross cruise revenues generated by passengers sourced from Germany increased by 8.17% and totaled €3.11
billion during 2014. This increase was driven primarily by the 5.0% increase in German passengers.
Gross cruise revenues include the ticket revenues of the cruises, onboard revenues and the cost of
transportation of passengers between their place of residence and the cruise port of embarkation and
disembarkation. The transportation costs are predominantly collected by European-based cruise lines and are
included in ticket revenues. Subtracting these transportation costs (€400 million), net cruise revenues of the
German national and international brands totaled €2.71 billion in 2014. Average net revenues per German
passenger rose by 2.6% from 2013 to €1,530 in 2014. Part of this increase resulted from the increase in the
average length of cruises. So the average net revenues per passenger night generated by passengers sourced
from Germany rose at a slower pace of 1.4% from €171.01 in 2013 to €173.37 in 2014.
Finally, the average age of a German cruise passenger rose just slightly from 50.2 years of age in 2013 to 50.4
years of age in 2014.
As shown in Figure 2, cruises to the Mediterranean/Black Sea and UK/Western Europe markets account for
nearly half (47%) of the passengers sourced from Germany. Relative to 2013, a higher percentage of passengers
purchased cruises to the UK/Western Europe in 2014 while the percentage declined for the Mediterranean/Black
Sea itineraries. These changes appear to be related to a shift in cruise capacity away from the Mediterranean
and into the rest of Europe.
The Norway/Arctic and Atlantic and Canary Isles were the next most popular cruise destinations for German
passengers, each accounting for more than 11% of all German passengers. Itineraries to Norway/Arctic
experienced a decline of 2 percentage points from 2013 while cruises to the Atlantic and Canary Isles saw an
increase of 1.4 percentage points from 2013.
The Baltic Sea and Caribbean/Bermuda destination markets each accounted for just under 9.0% of German
passengers. The percentage increased from 2013 for the Caribbean/Bermuda market but declined for the Baltic
Sea. Finally, the Arab Gulf/Indian Ocean, US/Canada and ROW markets combined accounted for about 12% of
German passengers in 2014. The Arab Gulf/Indian Ocean market experienced a decline while the US/Canada
market and the ROW declined slightly (0.1 percentage points each) from 2013.
Figure 2: Destination Markets for German Cruise Passengers, 2013 and 2014
Mediterranean/Black Sea
UK/Ireland/Western Europe
Norway/Arctic
Atlantic and Canary Isles
Baltic Sea
Caribbean/ Bermuda
Arab Gulf/Indian Ocean
US/Canada
2013
2014
33.5%
8.0%
14.5%
9.8%
9.5%
8.1%
8.2%
1.6%
32.1%
14.6%
12.5%
11.2%
8.9%
8.6%
3.9%
1.5%
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
CLIA Germany & DRV
5
II. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
AND METHODS
The principal objective of the project was to collect ocean-going cruise operating and financial statistics that
summarized 2014 cruise operations in the German market. These data were collected through a survey of
German national and international cruise lines. This survey was designed to collect data in the following major
category of operations:
1. 
Capacity: ships, lower beds; global and German market
2. 
Passengers and Passenger Cruise Nights sourced from Germany
Cruise Revenues: gross, net, per passenger and per diem;
Passenger Attributes: distribution by age, length of cruise and destination market
Cruise Employment of German Residents: landside and crew
3. 
4. 
5. 
The survey was sent to cruise lines and tour operators in Germany and elsewhere that represented 45 cruise
brands. Of these, responses were received for 27 cruise brands4, six German national brands and 21
international brands, as follows:
Figure 3: Survey Respondents by Cruise Brands
German National Cruise Brands
AIDA Cruises
Phoenix Reisen GmbH
SEA CLOUD CRUISES GmbH
Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten GmbH
PLANTOURS Kreuzfahrten
TUI Cruises GmbH
Azamara Club Cruises
Fred Olsen Cruise Lines
Paul Gauguin Cruises
Carnival Cruise Lines
Holland America Line
Princess Cruises
Celebrity Cruises
Louis Cruises
Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Costa Crociere
MSC Crociere
Royal Caribbean International
Crystal Cruises
Norwegian Cruise Line
Seabourn
Cunard Line
Oceania Cruises
SeaDream Yacht Club
Disney Cruise Line
P&O Cruises
Silversea Cruises
International Cruise Brands
Data for all of these cruise lines were aggregated to develop estimates of the German cruise market. Combined,
these cruise brands accounted for 94% of the total estimated passengers, passenger cruise nights and gross
revenues sourced from Germany. The German national brands that provided data accounted for 93% of the
German passengers, passenger cruise nights and revenues sourced by the German national brands while the
international brands that provided data accounted for 94% of the German passengers, passenger cruise nights
and revenues sourced by the international brands.
4 Of
the 18 cruise lines that declined to provide data, five stated that they did not market in or source passengers from Germany.
CLIA Germany & DRV
6
For non-respondent cruise brands German market statistics were estimated from aggregate data provided by
CLIA for CLIA member brands and from the survey data obtained from comparable brands for non-CLIA brands
as follows.
CLIA Brands
For CLIA brands that did not respond, data on passengers by source market for 2014 were derived from data
collected by CLIA Global. These data covered the passengers by source market, length of cruise, and destination
market and age of passengers. Thus, the full set of passenger statistics for passengers sourced from Germany
were estimated for each of the non-respondent CLIA brands.
Given the estimates of passengers and passenger cruise nights, gross ticket and onboard revenues were
estimated for non-respondent CLIA lines from data that has been collected for all CLIA lines for the economic
impact studies conducted by BREA.
Non-CLIA Brands
For Non-CLIA brands that did not respond, including the five German national brands, passenger, revenue and
employment statistics were estimated from data reported by comparable brands. Thus each of the non-CLIA
brands that did not respond was evaluated in terms of the number of ships, available bed capacity and general
itinerary structure, i.e., length of cruises and destination markets. These cruise lines were small lines with fewer
than five ships. In fact most had only one or two ships. Based upon these characteristics a set of comparable
cruise lines were formulated. For the German national lines the comparable brands were German national
brands that completed the survey and for the international brands the comparable brands were other
international brands that had completed the survey.
The data reported by the comparable brands were converted to per available bed day statistics, i.e., passenger
and passenger cruise nights sourced from Germany per available bed day, ticket and onboard revenue
generated by passengers sourced from Germany per available bed day, and so forth. These ratios were then
applied to the available bed day capacity for each of the non-CLIA brands that did not complete a survey to
estimate passengers, passenger cruise nights and revenues generated by passenger sourced from Germany for
each of these brands. The age, length of cruise and destination market distributions of the comparable brands
were then used to allocate total passengers to each of the age cohorts, length of cruise segments and
destination markets.
As noted above these estimates for non-respondents accounted for 6% of the total passengers, passenger cruise
nights and gross revenues generated by passengers sourced from Germany.
CLIA Germany & DRV
7
III. THE GERMAN CRUISE MARKET
IN 2014
Data on the German cruise market was obtained from a survey of German national and international cruise brands
that source cruise passengers from Germany. These data were then supplemented with estimates for those cruise
brands that did not complete the survey (see Section II). As discussed previously, the data collected from the
survey respondents accounted for 94% of the total German market estimates. There were eleven German national
brands that were identified for 2014. These cruise brands are shown in Figure 4. These are cruise lines and tour
operators that are registered in Germany and/or have their principal administrative offices in Germany.
Figure 4: German National Cruise Brands
German National Cruise Brands
AIDA Cruises
Passat Kreuzfahrten GmbH
SEA CLOUD CRUISES GmbH
FTI Cruises GmbH
Phoenix Reisen GmbH
TransOcean Kreuzfahrten
Hansa Touristik GmbH
PLANTOURS Kreuzfahrten
TUI Cruises GmbH
Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten GmbH
Reederei Peter Deilmann GmbH
All other cruise lines are considered to be international cruise brands. These lines source passengers from
Germany and may have marketing offices in Germany but their principal administrative offices are located
elsewhere. In total there are more than 40 additional cruise lines that are considered as international cruise
brands but not all of these source passengers from Germany. The major international brands included in this
analysis are shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: International Cruise Brands
Major International Cruise Brands
Azamara Club Cruises
Holland America Line
PONANT
Carnival Cruise Lines
Hurtigruten ASA
Princess Cruises
Celebrity Cruises
Louis Cruises
Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Costa Crociere
MSC Crociere
Royal Caribbean International
Crystal Cruises
Norwegian Cruise Line
Seabourn
Cunard Line
Oceania Cruises
SeaDream Yacht Club
Fred Olsen Cruise Lines
P&O Cruises
Silversea Cruises
CLIA Germany & DRV
8
As shown in Figure 6, the German national and international brands had a combined total of 293 ocean-going
cruise ships with 29 ships operated by the German national brands. This was the net result of the introduction of
the Mein Schiff 3 by TUI Cruises and the removal of the MS Azores with the withdrawal of Ambiente Kreuzfahrten
from the cruise market. The total number of lower beds of these cruise ships was 448,729 with the German
national brands accounting for 7% of the total. However, the German national brands with 10.7 million German
passenger cruise nights accounted for 68% of the total German passenger cruise nights achieved by all brands.
Passengers sourced from Germany also purchased longer cruises from the German national brands with an
average cruise length of 9.03 nights versus 8.41 nights on the international brands.
Figure 6: Attributes of the German National and International Brands, 2014
Brand Segment
Ships5
Lower Beds
German Passenger
Cruise Nights
Average Length
of Cruise (Nights)
National
29
32,655
10,676,928
9.03
International
264
416,074
4,956,182
8.41
Total
293
448,729
15,633,110
8.83
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
Compared to 2013, the German national brands reported a 6.2% increase in lower beds and a 5.6% increase in
German passenger cruise nights. The average length of a cruise for the German national brands remained
virtually unchanged at just over nine nights. The international brands reported a 3.0% increase in lower beds and
a 7.6% increase in German passenger cruise nights. The international brands also reported that the average
length of a cruise for German passengers rose from 8.08 nights in 2013 to 8.41 nights in 2014.
5 The
figures for ships and lower beds are end-of-year counts for ocean going cruise ships
serving German passengers and includes CLIA and non-CLIA member lines.
CLIA Germany & DRV
9
III.A. PASSENGERS SOURCED FROM GERMANY
Overall, 1.77 million passengers were sourced from Germany by all brands combined in 2014. This represented
an increase of 5.0% over 2013 (see Figure 7). Since 2004, German passengers have more than tripled, growing
at an average annual rate of 11.8%. Growth has been moderating since 2010 which is due in large part to a
general weakening of economic conditions in Europe and Germany, in particular. For example since 2009, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports6 that real GDP growth in Germany has averaged only 0.8% per year
through 2014 after averaging 2.0% per year over the previous five years.
Figure 7: Cruise Passengers Sourced from Germany (000s), 2004 – 2014
2000
1800
Passengers (Thousands)
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Passengers
583
639
705
763
907
1,027
1,219
1,388
1,544
1,687
1,771
Yr/Yr % Change
8.6%
9.6%
10.3%
8.2%
18.9%
13.2%
18.7%
13.9%
11.2%
11.3%
9.2%
5.0%
Source: CLIA Germany, DRV and BREA.
Since 2007, the growth in passengers sourced from Germany has exceeded that in all other European source
markets. It is anticipated that Germany will have become the largest cruise passenger source market in Europe
and the second largest global source market behind the United States in 2014.
6
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, October 2014.
CLIA Germany & DRV
10
As shown in Figure 8, approximately two-thirds of 1.77 million passengers sourced from Germany, 1.18 million
passengers, cruised on the German national brands while nearly 590,000 Germans sailed on the international
brands in 2014. The German national brands experienced an increase of 5.8% from 2013 in cruise passengers
sourced from Germany while the international brands saw a 3.5% increase.
Passengers Sourced from Germany
Figure 8: German Passengers Carried by German National and International Cruise Brands,
2013 and 2014
1,117,176
1,400,000
1,181,970
1,200,000
1,000,000
589,467
569,570
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
German National Cruise Brands
International Cruise Brands
2013
2014
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
As shown in Figure 9, the 1.77 million passengers sourced from Germany accounted for 7.8% of all passengers
that cruised on the ships of the German national and international brands during 2014. This is a decline from
8.3% in 2013. The decline in this share is primarily due to decline among the international brands which saw their
share of passengers sourced from Germany fall from 3.0% in 2013 to 2.8% in 2014. On the other hand, those
Germans cruising on the ships of the German national brands during 2014 accounted for nearly 97% of all
passengers on the cruise ships of the German national brands which was up from 96.2% in 2013.
Figure 9: Passengers Sourced from Germany as a % of All Cruise Passengers, 2013 and 2014
% of Cruise Passengers
96.2%
96.9%
100%
80%
60%
40%
3.0%
20%
2.8%
8.3%
7.8%
0%
German National Cruise Brands
International Cruise Brands
2013
All Cruise Brands Combined
2014
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
CLIA Germany & DRV
11
III.B. PASSENGER CRUISE NIGHTS
SOURCED FROM GERMANY
The 1.77 million passengers sourced from Germany generated a total of 15.63 million passenger cruise nights
on-board all cruise brands. This represented an increase of 6.2% over 2013 (see Figure 10). Since 2004,
German passenger cruise nights have increased by 172% growing at an average annual rate of 10.5%. The
increase in the growth rate of passenger cruise nights sourced from Germany is due to the increase in the
average length of a cruise for German passengers which, as reported previously, rose from 8.72 nights in 2013 to
8.83 nights in 2014 (see Figure 1) .
Figure 10: Passenger Cruise Nights Generated by Passengers Sourced from Germany (Millions),
2004 - 2014
Passenger Cruise Nights (Millions)
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Passenger Nights
5.74
6.14
6.85
7.13
8.50
9.99
11.32
12.81
14.24
14.72
15.63
Yr/Yr % Change
6.7%
7.1%
11.5%
4.1%
19.1%
17.5%
13.4%
13.2%
11.2%
3.3%
6.2%
Source: CLIA Germany, DRV and BREA.
As shown in Figure 11, the German national brands with 10.68 million passenger cruise nights accounted for
68% of the total passenger cruise nights achieved during 2014. The larger share of passenger cruise nights for
the German national brands relative to passengers (67%), is the result of the higher average length of a cruise on
the German national brands, 9.03 nights, compared to the 8.41 nights on the international brands. Relative to
2013, German passenger cruise nights on German national brands increased by 5.6%.
Passengers sourced from Germany generated 4.96 million passenger cruise nights on the international brands,
an increase of 7.6% from 2013. The higher growth among the international brands is the result of the increase in
the average length of a cruise by German passengers on the international brands which rose from 8.08 nights in
2013 to 8.41 nights in 2014.
CLIA Germany & DRV
12
Passengers Sourced from Germany
Figure 11: Passenger Cruise Nights Achieved by German National and International Cruise Brands,
2013 and 2014
12,000,000
10,109,770
10,676,928
10,000,000
8,000,000
4,604,756
6,000,000
4,956,182
4,000,000
2,000,000
0
German National Cruise Brands
2013
International Cruise Brands
2014
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
CLIA Germany & DRV
13
III.C. CRUISE REVENUES GENERATED BY
PASSENGERS SOURCED FROM GERMANY
The 1.77 million passengers sourced from Germany generated a total of €3.11 billion in gross cruise revenues
across all cruise brands. This represented an increase of 8.2% over 2013 (see Figure 12). Since 2004, gross
cruise revenues generated by German passengers have increased by 173% growing at an average annual rate
of 10.6%. Growth has fluctuated since 2008 which is due in part to the negative impact of the 2009-2010
recession on consumer demand in general and cruises, in particular.
Figure 12: Gross Cruise Revenues Generated by German Passengers (Billions), 2004 - 2014
Gross Cruise Revenues (Billions)
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Gross Revenues
€ 1.14
€ 1.22
€ 1.36
€ 1.44
€ 1.69
€ 1.93
€ 2.07
€ 2.37
€ 2.64
€ 2.88
€ 3.11
Yr/Yr % Change
6.3%
7.3%
11.1%
5.8%
17.7%
14.0%
7.2%
14.7%
11.3%
8.9%
8.2%
Source: CLIA Germany, DRV and BREA.
Figure 13 shows both gross and net revenues by German national, international and all brands combined. Net
revenues are defined as gross revenues minus the passenger transportation costs. In general, net revenues are
about 15% lower than gross revenues for the German national brands and 5% lower than gross revenues for the
international brands.
Net revenues across all brands increased by 7.6% from 2013 to €2.71 billion. This is only slightly lower than the
increase in gross revenues, 8.2%, indicating that the share of passenger transportation costs in gross revenues
remained relatively stable between 2013 and 2014. Among the German national brands gross revenues rose by
8.0% while net revenues rose by about 8.5% in 2014. Gross revenues rose by 7.4% among the international
brands while the net revenues increased by 5.1%.
CLIA Germany & DRV
14
Figure 13: Gross and Net Cruise Revenues (Billions), 2013 and 2014
€ 3.5
Revenues (Billions)
€ 3.11
€ 2.88
€ 3.0
€ 0.78
€ 0.73
€ 2.5
€ 2.71
€ 2.52
€ 0.74
€ 0.70
€ 2.0
€ 1.5
€ 1.0
€ 2.15
€ 2.33
2013
2014
€ 1.82
€ 1.97
2013
2014
€ 0.5
€Gross Revenues
Net Revenues
German National Cruise Brands
International Cruise Brands
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
On a per passenger cruise night basis, net cruise revenues generated by passengers sourced from Germany
averaged €173.37 in 2014, an increase of 1.4% from 2013. The German national brands generated an average
of €184.93, 25% more than the average for international brands of €148.48 (see Figure 14). Among the German
national brands, the average net revenue per passenger night rose by 2.6% from 2013 while for the international
brands the average net revenue per passenger night fell by nearly 1.0%. This relative weakness may explain the
shift of deployment by some of the North American brands from Europe, especially the Med to Australasia and
the Caribbean (see Figure 15).
Figure 14: Net Cruise Revenues per Passenger Night, 2013 and 2014
€ 173.37
€ 171.01
All Cruise Brands
€ 148.48
€ 149.80
International Cruise Brands
€ 184.93
€ 180.18
German National Cruise Brands
€0
€ 20
€ 40
€ 60
€ 80
€ 100
€ 120
€ 140
€ 160
€ 180
€ 200
Net Revenues per Passenger Night
2014
2013
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
CLIA Germany & DRV
15
Percent Change
Figure 15: Deployment Indicator: Percent Change in Bed Day Capacity by Destination Market, 2013 to
2014 (Survey of 18 CLIA International Cruise Brands)
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
-5%
-10%
-15%
30.6%
14.2%
9.0%
3.5%
0.5%
-1.6%
-10.3%
-11.4%
Source: CLIA.
On a per passenger basis, net cruise revenues averaged €1,530 during 2014 (see Figure 16) an increase of
2.6% from 2013. The German national brands generated an average of €1,670, 34% more than the average for
international brands of €1,248. Because the average length of a cruise is higher for the German brands
compared to the international brands, the average net ticket revenue per passenger is considerably higher for the
German brands relative to the international brands than the ticket revenue per passenger cruise night, 34%
versus 25%. Among the German national brands, the average net revenue per passenger rose by 2.4% from
2013 while for the international brands the average net revenue per passenger increased by nearly 3.0%.
Because the average length of cruise of German passengers on international brands increased in 2014, the
average net revenue per passenger increased but the average net revenue per passenger night declined.
Figure 16: Net Cruise Revenues per Passenger, 2013 and 2014
€ 1,530
€ 1,492
All Cruise Brands
€ 1,248
€ 1,211
International Cruise Brands
€ 1,670
€ 1,631
German National Cruise Brands
€0
€ 300
€ 600
€ 900
€ 1,200
€ 1,500
€ 1,800
Net Revenues per Passenger
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
CLIA Germany & DRV
2014
2013
16
III.D. AVERAGE LENGTH OF A CRUISE
As reported previously, the average length of a cruise for German passengers rose to 8.83 nights in 2014 from
8.72 nights in 2013 (see Figure 1). The German national brands had a higher average cruise length of 9.03
nights compared to 8.41 nights for the international brands (see Figure 6). As indicated in Figure 17, the oneweek cruise remains the dominant cruise choice of German passengers, accounting for more than half of the
passengers among all brands. This is followed by cruises of between 8 and 13 nights which were chosen by
nearly 22% of all German passengers. While there is a slight variation of the distribution of cruise length between
German national and international brands, especially in the 8 to 13 nights category, the overall distribution is very
similar for both brand groups.
Figure 17: Distribution of Cruises by Length of Cruise (Nights), 2014
60%
% of German Passengers
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 to 3
Nights
4 to 6
Nights
7 Nights
8 to 13
Nights
14 Nights
15 to 20
Nights
Over 20
Nights
German National Cruise Brands
1.5%
6.5%
55.9%
16.0%
13.2%
6.0%
0.9%
International Cruise Brands
4.9%
2.7%
51.2%
34.3%
2.8%
3.2%
0.9%
All Cruise Brands
2.6%
5.3%
54.3%
22.2%
9.7%
5.1%
0.9%
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
III.E. AVERAGE AGE OF GERMAN PASSENGERS
The average age of a German cruise passenger was 50.4 years of age which was up slightly from 50.2 in 2013
(see Figure 1). Across both brand groups, just about 75% of German passengers were over the age of 40 and
just over 22% were over the age of 65 (see Figure 18). However, the average age of Germans onboard the
international brands was significantly higher than those cruising on the German national brands, 51.6 years of
age versus 49.8. For example, 28% of the German passengers cruising on the international brands were over the
age of 65 compared to just 20% for the German national brands.
CLIA Germany & DRV
17
Figure 18: German Cruise Passenger Age Distribution, 2014
% of German Passengers
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Less than 15
Years of Age
15 to 25
Years of Age
26 to 40
Years of Age
41 to 55
Years of Age
56 to 65
Years of Age
66 to 75
Years of Age
Over 75
Years of Age
German National Cruise Brands
6.8%
5.9%
13.2%
32.2%
21.6%
15.8%
4.5%
International Cruise Brands
7.2%
5.3%
10.8%
27.9%
20.8%
19.7%
8.4%
All Cruise Brands
6.9%
5.7%
12.3%
30.7%
21.4%
17.1%
5.8%
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
III.F. CRUISE DESTINATIONS OF GERMAN PASSENGERS
As shown in Figure 19, cruises to the top seven destination markets carried approximately 93% of the
passengers sourced from Germany. The most popular destination markets were the Mediterranean/Black Sea
and the UK/Ireland/Western Europe. Combined, nearly half (47%) of the German passengers sailed on cruises to
these two markets. These were followed by cruises to the Norway/Arctic and the Atlantic and Canary Isles
markets which combined accounted for 24% of the German passengers that cruised during 2014. The
destinations of the North America/Caribbean and Baltic Sea markets were each visited by about 10% of German
passengers. Approximately 4.0% of German passengers visited destinations the Arab Gulf/Indian Ocean market.
Finally, 6.7% of German passengers visited destinations in other markets, including Australia/New Zealand, Asia,
South America and Transatlantic cruises.
Figure 19: German Cruise Passenger Destinations, 2013 and 2014
32.1%
33.5%
Mediterranean/Black Sea
UK/Western Europe
8.0%
12.5%
14.5%
11.2%
9.8%
10.1%
9.7%
8.9%
9.5%
Norway/Arctic
Atlantic and Canary Isles
North America/Caribbean
Baltics
3.9%
Arab Gulf/Indian Ocean
All Others
0%
5%
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
CLIA Germany & DRV
14.6%
8.2%
6.7%
6.8%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Share of Passengers Sourced from Germany
2014
30%
35%
40%
2013
18
As shown in Figure 20, the vast majority of German passengers (80%) boarded cruises that were bound for
European destinations. This represented a significant increase from 75% in 2013.
Share of Passengers Sourced from Germany
Figure 20: German Cruise Passenger Destinations – Europe vs. Rest of the World, 2011-2014
90%
80%
76.6%
80.5%
75.3%
74.4%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
23.4%
25.6%
24.7%
20%
19.5%
10%
0%
2011
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
CLIA Germany & DRV
2012
Europe
2013
2014
Rest of the World
19
IV. EMPLOYMENT OF GERMAN
RESIDENTS BY THE CRUISE INDUSTRY
Data collected from the German national and international cruise lines showed that the cruise industry employed
nearly 5,800 German residents in their administrative offices and onboard their cruise ships. This was a 4.9%
increase from 2013. Not surprisingly, the German national brands employed the majority (78%) of the cruise
industry’s German based employees. As shown in Figure 21, the German national brands employed 86%, 1,373
employees, of the total landside employment and 75% of the total crew.
Figure 21: Employment and Income – German Employees of Cruise Lines, 2014
Landside
Crew
Total
All Cruise Brands
1,599
4,197
5,796
German National Cruise Brands
1,373
3,127
4,500
226
1,070
1,296
International Cruise Brands
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
V. CRUISE PASSENGER
TRAFFIC AT GERMAN PORTS
Germany is not only a source market for cruise passengers it is also a cruise destination with major cruise ports
along the North and Baltic Seas. During 2014 there were over 600 cruise ship calls at German ports and nearly
1.56 million cruise passengers (embarkations + disembarkations + transit)7 were processed at these ports. This
was a 4.0% increase from 2013 (see Figure 22).
Figure 22: Cruise Passenger Traffic at German Ports, 2014
Cruise Passengers
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
588,690
509,000
354,000
106,822
Hamburg
Rostock/
Warnemünde
Kiel
All Other Ports
Transit
29,420
261,350
60,400
37,972
Disembarkations
277,812
123,825
148,550
34,425
Embarkations
281,458
123,825
145,050
34,425
Source: CLIA Germany and BREA.
7 This
accounting of cruise passengers is the generally accepted methodology and is also referred to as passenger throughput. Some ports also count transit
passengers twice since they disembark upon arrival and re-embark prior to departure.
CLIA Germany & DRV
20
Germany’s three major ports, Hamburg, Rostock/Warnemünde and Kiel, accounted for 93% of all port cruise
passenger traffic. Hamburg is Germany’s principal homeport with 281,458 embarkations followed by Kiel with
145,050 embarkations. As shown in Figure 22, Hamburg is primarily a homeport with embarkations and
disembarkations accounting for 95% of the cruise passenger traffic. On the other hand, Kiel is slightly more
diversified with transit passengers accounting for 17% of the cruise passenger traffic at the port. Rostock/
Warnemünde is Germany’s largest transit port with 261,350 transit passengers accounting for over half (54%)
of the total cruise passenger traffic at the port. Finally, the remaining ports, which include Bremerhaven,
Travemünde, Sassnitz, Sylt and Wismar, posted approximately 107,000 cruise passengers during 2014.
VI. NEW CRUISE SHIP
CONSTRUCTION
In 2014, the ocean cruise fleet of the German national and international cruise brands examined in this study had
a combined fleet of 293 cruise ships and 448,729 lower beds (see Figure 6). The eleven German national cruise
brands operated 29 vessels with 32,655 lower beds. As noted previously, the number of ships was unchanged
from 2013. This was the net result of the introduction of the Mein Schiff 3 by TUI Cruises and the removal of the
MS Azores with the withdrawal of Ambiente Kreuzfahrten from the cruise market. Across both German national
and international brands there was a net increase of 4 cruise ships and 14,079 lower beds from 2013.
During 2014 six ocean-going cruise ships (new builds) were introduced with one of the new vessels, the Mein
Schiff 3, operated by the German national cruise line, TUI Cruises GmbH. These new 2014 vessels represented
a €3.44 billion investment and an additional 18,079 lower beds. Of this 2014 total, the Mein Schiff 3 with 2,500
lower beds accounted for nearly 14% of total increase in new beds.
Figure 23: German Nation Cruise Lines – New Ship and Capacity Outlook, 2015 – 2017*
Year
New Ships on Order
Lower Beds
Delivery
Ship Yard
2015
AIDA Cruises - AIDAprima
3,250
October
Mitsubishi
2015
TUI Cruises GmbH – Mein Schiff 4
2,500
April
STX
2016
AIDA Cruises - TBA
3,250
March
Mitsubishi
2016
TUI Cruises GmbH – Mein Schiff 5
2,500
Winter
STX
2017
TUI Cruises GmbH – Mein Schiff 6
2,500
Winter
STX
Ships Added
Lower Beds Added
Yr/Yr Capacity Change
German National Cruise Fleet Beds
2014
1
2,500
8.30%
32,665
2015
2
5,750
17.6%
38,415
2016
2
5,750
15.0%
44,165
2017
1
2,500
5.7%
46,665
Total
(2015-2017)
5
14,000
42.9%
*Does not reflect unannounced buildings and future ship withdrawals.
Source: CLIA.
CLIA Germany & DRV
21
In addition to the Mein Schiff 3, the ships introduced in 2014 included: Pearl Seas Cruises – Pearl Mist (210),
Princess Cruises – Regal Princess (3,600), Norwegian Cruise Line - Norwegian Getaway (3,969), Royal
Caribbean International – Quantum of the Seas (4,100), Costa Cruises – Costa Diadema (3,700).
Looking forward to the period of 2015 through 2017, the global ocean-going new ship order book includes 25
ships, 70,741 lower beds and an additional €14.86 billion capital investment. The additional lower beds added in
this three-year period represents an increase of 14.8% as compared to 2014.
Of these 25 new ocean going vessels being introduced over the 2015-2017 period, five are being introduced by
the German national brands of TUI Cruises GmbH and AIDA Cruises, two in 2015, two in 2016 and one in 2017
(see Figure 23). These five vessels represent an additional 14,000 beds or 19.7% of the total announced new
global ocean cruise capacity. These additional 14,000 beds will increase the capacity of the German national
cruise brands to 46,665 beds from the 2014 capacity of 32,665 or by 42.9%, a growth rate of more than double
the global growth rate.
VII. SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN
THE GERMAN OCEAN CRUISE
MARKET – 2014
First Quarter
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
FTI Cruises GmbH announced the appointment of V-Ships as managers for the Berlin.
Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten GmbH announced plans for its first North-east Passage cruise in 2015.
Meyer Werft of Papenburg, Germany, delivered the 4,000 berth Norwegian Getaway to Norwegian Cruise
Line and announced an order for a second 3,360 passenger ship for Star Cruises.
TransOcean Kreuzfahrten was acquired from Premicon by UK cruise operator, Cruise and Maritime
Voyages. The operator will continue to target the German market during the Northern Summer itineraries
and the Australian itineraries over the winter period.
The keel-laying of TUI Cruises GmbH’s second 99,500gt new building, Mein Schiff 4, took place in
Turku, Finland.
Second Quarter
• 
• 
• 
• 
AIDA Cruises announced a six-month delay in the completion of AIDAprima by Mitsubishi of Japan with the
vessel now due in October.
AIDAluna and Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth completed dry-dockings at Blohm+Voss, both included
installation of exhaust scrubbers.
Ambiente Kreuzfahrten announced its withdrawal from the cruise market following the conclusion of the
2014 season in September.
TUI Cruises GmbH took delivery of its first new building, the 2,506-berth Mein Schiff 3, on May 22 from STX
Finland’s Turku Shipyard. The christening took place in Hamburg on June 12.
CLIA Germany & DRV
22
Third Quarter
• 
Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten GmbH’s Hanseatic was reported to have set a new record of the northernmost
position, 85° 40.7´ N, ever reached by a passenger ship in the North-east Passage.
• 
In August, Meyer Werft acquired a 70% stake in the STX Finland shipyard in Turku, following negotiations
with the Finnish Government and the signature of a share purchase agreement with the current Korean-based
owners of the yard.
Meyer Werft received orders from Norwegian Cruise Line for two more 4,200-passenger Breakaway-Plus
class vessels for delivery in 2018 and 2019. The keel of the first in class, Norwegian Escape, was laid on
September 19.
• 
• 
• 
Passat Kreuzfahrten announced the cancellation of its 2015 season, pending restructuring of the company.
TUI Cruises GmbH announced orders for two further 99,500 gross ton ships, Mein Schiff 5 and Mein Schiff 6,
from the former STX Finland shipyard in Turku, now controlled by Meyer Werft. The new ships are for delivery
in 2016-17 with options for two further units.
Fourth Quarter
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten GmbH achieved the three highest rated ships in the 2015 edition of the Berlitz
Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships (Europa, Europa 2 and Hanseatic). The two Europa ships were the only
ones rated 5 star plus.
Becker Marine Systems & AIDA Cruises: Christening of the world’s first LNG hybrid barge- a floating LNG
power plant for environmentally friendly energy supply of cruise ships during their port stay, on October 18, in
Hamburg.With the start of the new cruise season in the spring of 2015, it is planned to supply AIDAsol, as the
first cruise ship world wide with electricity produced from ecological friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG) while it
is berthed in the port of Hamburg.
In October, Royal Caribbean took delivery of the Quantum of the Seas from Meyer Werft. The vessel sailed
from Bremerhaven to commence service in North America. Meyer Werft also commenced construction of the
third of the Oasis-class ships, Ovation of the Seas.
Premicon Hochseekreuzfahrten GmbH, former owners of Astor, filed for insolvency in November. Following
the insolvency of the owners, a dry-docking of the former Reederei Peter Deilmann GmbH flagship,
Deutschland, was cancelled and the vessel offered for sale.
A 71-day refit at Lloyd Werft for Phoenix Reisen GmbH’s Artania was completed, including the installation of
four new main engines.
In November, steel was cut for TUI Cruises GmbH’s Mein Schiff 5.
CLIA Germany & DRV
23
SOURCES
DISCLAIMER
Business Research & Economic Advisors (BREA)
and GP Wild (International) Ltd. (June 2014).
The Cruise Industry: Contribution of Cruise Tourism
to the Economy of Europe, 2014 Edition, Brussels:
CLIA Europe.
Business Research & Economic
Advisors (BREA) makes no
representation or warranty as to the
accuracy or completeness of the
information contained in this report,
including estimates, and shall have no
liability for any representations
(expressed or implied) contained in, or
for any omissions from, this report.
Cruise Lines International Association.
CLIA 2014 Annual Deployment Survey. 2015
DRV / CLIA Deutschland (March 2014). Der HochseeKreuzfahrtmarkt Deutschland 2013. Hamburg
DRV – Deutscher ReiseVerband e.V. (2013).
Der Kreuzfahrtenmarkt Deutschland 2012. Berlin
International Monetary Fund. World Economic
Outlook Database, October 2014.
IMPRINT
Publisher
Cruise Lines International Association Deutschland
(CLIA Deutschland) & Deutscher ReiseVerband
e.V. (DRV)
House of Cruises, Bergstedter Chaussee 104
22395 Hamburg, Germany
Email: [email protected]
Author
Business Research and Economic Advisors (BREA), LLP
Publication Date:
05th of March 2015
Distribution
This study can be purchased for a fee of
95, 00 EUR plus VAT and mailing expenses.
The distribution is done by CLIA Deutschland.
CLIA Germany & DRV
We take no responsibility for the
accuracy of the market and survey
information that has been provided to
us by others. The information provided
to us has not been audited or verified
and is assumed to be accurate. Our
analyses are based on estimates,
assumptions and other information
developed from our research,
knowledge of the industry and other
factors, including certain information
provided by others. Accordingly, we
express no opinion or other form of
assurance on the market or financial
feasibility of the cruise industry or
related industries, or upon the financial
and market information contained in
the report. Some assumptions may not
materialize, and unanticipated events
and circumstances may occur;
therefore, actual results during the
period covered by the analysis may
vary from those described in our
report, and the variations may be
material.
Neither this report nor any other
presentation material, nor any
reference to our Firm may be included
or quoted in any offering circular or
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responsibility to update our report for
events and circumstances occurring
after the report date.
24