The most important cruise trip markets are, besides North America (USA/ Canada), these European countries – Great Britain/ Ireland and Germany. In 2016, the German cruise trip industry contributed with roughly 3.8 billion euros worth of revenue and rising passenger numbers to the total economic performance. Direct expenditure in the German cruise industry amounted to roughly 3.1 billion euros in 2017, putting Germany in third place behind the United Kingdom and Italy in second and first place respectively.
In 2017, almost 2.2 million Germans went on a sea cruise. The most popular cruise trip destinations were located in Northern Europe and the West/ Central Mediterranean. Prominent German cruise trip companies in the sea trip category are AIDA Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and TUI Cruises.
Over 496,000 river cruise passengers were recorded in Germany in 2018. On average, these cruises lasted a week. Well-known companies operating river cruises are A-ROSA, Phoenix-Reisen as well as nicko cruises.
