Nearly 100,000 Kiwis took to the oceans for a cruise ship holiday last year.
That represents an increase of 8.7 percent on the previous year, making New Zealand one of the world's fastest growing cruise markets.
At a Cruise Lines International Association press conference this morning, Australasian managing director Joel Katz said the New Zealand cruise market is growing much faster than others around the world.
"New Zealand continues to outperform many other more established cruise markets, in percentage terms well ahead of the USA, Europe, and the UK and Ireland," he said.
There are over 100 new cruise ships scheduled to be delivered globally between now and 2027, and the increased capacity will likely mean more cruises in and around New Zealand.
Last year saw massive growth in the number of Kiwis cruising to Australia in particular, with 13,264 people taking to the Tasman Sea - up 112 percent from 2016.
Europe and the Mediterranean fell 1 percent to fourth place, with 11,224 people flying over to that side of the world for a cruise.
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In total, 2.2 percent of Kiwis took a cruise last year, which is above other countries such as Italy (1 percent), Spain (1 percent) and France (0.8 percent).
Shorter trips of less than four days saw an increase of 150 percent.
Around 40 percent of Kiwi cruisers are under the age of 50, and about 60 percent aged over 50.
Newshub.
