The Cruise Industry Keeps Beating Its Own Expectations
Photo Credit: Royal Caribbean International's Harmony of the Seas, which debuted in 2016, helped global cruise passenger numbers soar. Royal Caribbean International
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Higher-than-expected cruise passenger counts are good news for an industry that saw much slower growth just a few years ago. A lack of high-profile disasters has been helpful, and cruise lines are getting better at promoting themselves and expanding into new markets.
The final cruise passenger numbers for 2016 are in, and they totally blew expectations out of the water.
According to data released Tuesday by the Cruise Lines International Association, 24.7 million people took a cruise worldwide last year. That's an increase of nearly 6.5 percent from 2015, when 23.2 million people cruised.
The 2016 total is higher than the original forecast — 24.2 million — by 500,000. Last year, the association also got a pleasant surprise when final numbers for 2015 came in 200,000 higher than projec
