Why Europe?

Seatrade Europe is the meeting place for high-level figures involved in the North European cruise, ferry and rivercruise industries.

Europe is the fastest growing cruise destination in the world 3.2m Europeans cruised in 2005, a rise of 13% year-on-year growth, Germany is the largest source market in the region representing 639,000 passengers in 2005
The German market is one of the fastest growing in Europe with one million passengers expected to sail by 2010
Hamburg Cruise Center opened a second terminal in April 2006 to handle a record season. It is also planning a new, state of the art cruise center in 2009
European yards dominate the cruiseship orderbook with current orders in excess of $18bn
The European river cruise network is the top destination with 58% of the global river cruise market
The second biggest passenger market in the world is the UK, closely followed by Germany, Italy, France and Spain
The Columbus Cruise Center, Bremerhaven is adding a third birth whilst Kiel is building a new €19m Cruise & Ferry Center which is planned to be ready this year. Rostock is considering another cruise quay in Warnemuende
There are 250 ferry companies operating in Europe offering an extensive and vital network of connections within the region
In 2006 50 more ships than in 2005 chose to let their passengers either begin or end their cruise at one of the Baltic destinations
197 ships in 2006, compared to 147 ships in 2005, had their turnaround in the Baltic region – a growth of 34 per cent.

* Information taken from Seatrade Cruise Review and Seatrade Insider