CLIA study: Cruise passengers projected to grow 5.4% in 2017

The number of cruise passengers worldwide is expected to grow 5.4% to 25.3 million, CLIA said in its annual outlook study.

In 2016, total cruise passengers were estimated at 24 million.

The study also said the industry’s global economic output declined to $117 billion in 2015, the last year available, from $119.9 billion in 2014.

The cruise industry supported the full-time equivalent of 956,597 employees, up from 939,232 a year earlier. However, the earnings of those employees shrank 3.3% from $39.3 billion in 2014 to $38 billion last year, the CLIA study said.

CLIA attributed the drop in the global output and payroll figures to fluctuating exchange rates and a stronger U.S. dollar.