Cruise industry in the United Kingdom (UK) - statistics & facts

Cruise tourism is a popular form of leisure travel in the United Kingdom. In 2022, the UK and Ireland ranked second among the largest source markets for cruise passengers in Europe, ahead of Italy and Spain. While cruise traffic in that region fell dramatically with the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of cruise passengers sourced from the United Kingdom and Ireland bounced back in 2022, reaching around 1.7 million. This figure, however, remained below pre-pandemic levels. When looking at the leading cruise destinations for British and Irish travelers, Northern Europe and the Central & Western Mediterranean reported the highest figures, welcoming more than 400 thousand cruise guests each in 2022.

What are the busiest cruise ports in the United Kingdom?

When considering the number of passenger movements across cruise ports in the United Kingdom, Southampton emerged as the country’s most important hub for cruise tourism. In 2022, nearly 1.8 million cruise guests embarked and disembarked at that location, accounting for just below 90 percent of international cruise passenger movements at UK ports. Meanwhile, the number of cruise passenger movements at Dover, the second-busiest UK cruise port, showed signs of recovery after the impact of the health crisis, rising to 86 thousand in 2022. As cruise traffic at UK ports rebounded but did not catch up yet with pre-pandemic levels, the cruise market’s revenue in the United Kingdom followed a similar trend. In this respect, it grew to 1.45 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 but stayed around 41 percent lower than the peak reported in 2019.

Cruise passenger behavior in the UK

According to a 2022 study focusing on the age distribution of ocean cruise passengers from the UK and Ireland, this type of vacation was more popular among older travelers. That year, roughly seven in ten cruise guests sourced from these countries were aged 50 years and older. Meanwhile, when considering the length of cruise trips, over 40 percent of British and Irish travelers took cruises that lasted for a week. Overall, despite the popularity of this type of holiday in the country, it was not among the most common travel products booked in the UK, as just seven percent of surveyed Britons reported having paid for a cruise trip in 2022.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Dec 19, 2023

Key insights

Number of cruise passengers from the UK and Ireland
1.66m
Revenue of the cruise industry in the UK
1.45bn USD
Leading cruise destination from the UK and Ireland
Northern Europe
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Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Number of cruise passengers sourced from the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland from 2010 to 2022 (in 1,000s)

Cruises

Number of cruise passengers sourced from the UK and Ireland 2010-2022

Revenue of the cruises market in the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

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Revenue of the cruises industry in the UK 2019-2028

Number of cruise passengers sourced from the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland from 2019 to 2022, by destination (in 1,000s)

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Leading cruise destinations for British and Irish passengers 2019-2022

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Cruise industry in the United States
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