Cruising growth could be halted by green tax

David Dingle, the chief executive of Carnival Cruises, has written in a report that the increase in green taxes by the UK Government could halt the expansion of the cruise industry in this area. In his report he goes on to say that regulation and taxation will stall the European cruise market.

Carnival believe that the UK market could double in the next 10 years to more than three million passengers every year. Their prediction is similar to what has happened in the US as a larger number of people head out to sea on more extravagant ships to enjoy luxury mini-breaks.

The industry is worth $30 billion in Europe and it continues to grow, providing more jobs and more security for employees. Cruise companies are already working on reducing the carbon footprint and warned that a radical answer to lowering CO2 emissions is not the correct one.

It was a bad year in 2009 for the cruise industry, but Carnival said the end of 2009 marked the start of the recovery and they are looking at a healthy increase in booking already for this coming season.