Italia main beneficiary of the cruise industry in Europe

Italia is the main beneficiary of the cruise industry in Europe. This is according to a study by Clia, the Cruise lines international association, which represents over 50 companies in the sector operating globally. The study refers to data collected in 2024 and shows that the sector has produced overall benefits in our country of €18.1 billion, 28% of the total €64.1 billion generated in Europe, making Italia the continent's main recipient, with a total output almost double that of Spain, second with €8.6 billion. For Italia, this is a growth of 23% compared to 14.7 billion in 2023.

In terms of added value, the report highlights, "the cruise industry contributes €7.3 billion to Italy's gross domestic product (more than a quarter of the European total), of which €2.8 billion directly and €4.4 billion between indirect and induced effects". In terms of employment, the companies' activities generate 113 thousand jobs, both direct and indirect, equal to 25% of the total 445 thousand in Europe, with wages paid out worth 3.6 billion euros.

In detail, cruise activities generated €8.4 billion in direct output (out of a European total of €31.3 billion), broken down as follows: €3.4 billion in investments in shipyards, €2.9 billion in direct purchases by companies, €1.7 billion in passenger and crew spending in destinations, and €400 million in salaries of personnel residing in Italia. To these must be added 7.3 billion of indirect impact linked to the supply chain of the sector and 2.5 billion of induced effect from workers' consumption.

'Italia,' says Francesco Galietti, national director Clia Italia, 'is the only European market where all four expenditure channels, i.e. shipbuilding, company purchases, passenger and crew spending, and salaries, generate significant and widespread economic impacts. These numbers do not only affect the companies: they affect cities, ports, workers, local businesses. The cruise industry generates value along the entire supply chain, well beyond the ship and the tourist who disembarks at the port, but which is rooted in the long supply chain, in the allied industries, in shipbuilding, in the spending of companies and crews'.

Another study, this time on the cruise economy in Ligurian ports, conducted by the company Pts for the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, with the scientific coordination of Oliviero Baccelli, has taken stock of the impact of cruises in Liguria in 2025. The figures show that last year the sector generated a total direct economic impact of 346 million euro in Genoa and Savona ports, of which 255 million (73%) was attributable to home port activities. The value derives from the combination of passenger expenditure, amounting to 157 million, and company expenditure, reaching 189 million, plus a direct employment contribution estimated at about 2,700 employees along the cruise industry chain.