7. PASSENGER TRANSPORT

• In 2022, the number of active river cruise vessels in Europe reached 410, representing 60,600 beds (compared to 407 active vessels in 2021 with 59,750 beds). The new building for river cruises remained rather slow, due to some extent by inflationary tendencies.
 
• With the start of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a new development which has been observed is the increased demand for hotel capacity for war refugees from Ukraine. As a result, some vessels are being used as floating hotels, sometimes permanently or in parallel to their cruising activities, outside the main touristic seasons.
 
• Overall, 2022 can be seen as a year of recovery for the river cruise activity on the Rhine, Danube and Moselle, as shown by the positive figures in relation to the number of cruise vessels passing locks, passenger demand and the utilisation rate of river cruise vessels.

FLEET FOR RIVER CRUISES⁴⁵

• The active river cruise fleet in Europe⁴⁶ represents more than 40% of the world active river cruise fleet. The fleet for river cruises in Europe is mainly concentrated on central European waterways⁴⁷ (close to 75% of the total river cruise fleet in Europe). In 2022, the number of active river cruise vessels in Europe reached 410, representing 60,600 beds (compared to 407 active vessels in 2021 with 59,750 beds).
• Despite the Covid-19 pandemic coming to an end, the new building for river cruises remained rather slow in 2022. The year was marked by inflationary tendencies, contributing to an increase in shipbuilding costs, acting as a hurdle for the newbuilding activity.
• With the start of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a new development that has been observed is the increased demand for hotel capacity for war refugees from Ukraine. In addition to that, the rising number of people asking for asylum in Europe also plays a role. As a result, some vessels are being used as floating hotels, in parallel to their cruising activities outside the main touristic seasons. Some vessels, particularly the oldest ones (more than 50 years old), are permanently turned into floating hotels with no prospect of resuming their river cruise activities. This was the case for six vessels in 2022, which were removed from the river cruise fleet statistics in 2022. In early 2023, outside the touristic seasons, 16 vessels were indicated as being used as floating hotels.

 

FIGURE 1: NUMBER OF RIVER CRUISE VESSELS IN THE EU BY REGION OF OPERATION (2004 – 2023) *


Source: A. Hader, The River Cruise Fleet Handbook (May 2023)
* 2023: based on order book as of May 2023, of which 16 are temporarily being used as floating hotels.
 
• In the 2022 season, five new vessels were built (compared to nine in 2021), two of which were commissioned in 2021 but postponed. The downward trend in new building orders is expected to continue in 2023, as only four new vessels are planned to be delivered.

  

FIGURE 2: NEW RIVER CRUISE VESSELS FOR THE EUROPEAN MARKET 2004-2023 *


Source: A. Hader, The River Cruise Fleet Handbook (May 2023)
* 2023: based on order books as of May 2023

 
• In 2022, the five new vessels brought an additional capacity of 980 beds (compared to 1,615 beds in 2021) to the river cruise market in Europe.

 

FIGURE 3: NEW CRUISE CAPACITIES FROM 2020 TO 2023 PER REGION OF OPERATION (NUMBER OF BEDS) *


Source: A. Hader, The River Cruise Fleet Handbook (May 2023)
* R-M-D= Rhine/Main/Main-Danube Canal/Danube
2023: based on order books as of May 2023.

 
• After a decrease between 2014 and 2018, the average number of beds in new cruise vessels has been rising continuously. In 2022, the important increase in the average number of beds is explained by the entry into the market of the A-ROSA SENA which has a capacity of 280 beds.

 

FIGURE 4: AVERAGE NUMBER OF BEDS IN NEW RIVER CRUISE VESSELS IN EUROPE BY YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION *


Source: A. Hader, The River Cruise Fleet Handbook (May 2023)
* Figure for 2023: forecast

DEMAND FOR RIVER CRUISES

• The year 2022 shows that the river cruise sector is on the path to recovery, with values similar to, and sometimes higher than, pre-pandemic levels concerning vessels’ movements. Figures are also on the rise regarding the number of passengers embarking on river cruises and the passenger capacity utilisation rates of vessels.
• Regarding the German travel market, the number of passengers who booked a river cruise in Germany increased by +75.0% in 2022, to attain 319,977 passengers. Those numbers are however still -40.8% below the passenger numbers recorded for the year 2019 (with 541,133 passengers).⁴⁸
• The yearly cruise vessel movement figures for the Danube, Rhine and Moselle show a remarkable rebound in 2022, compared to 2021. In terms of vessel movements, the cruising activity on the Upper Danube (at the Austrian-German border) and the Moselle were respectively +5% and +1% above the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. However, the cruising activity on the Rhine was still -6.5% below the level of 2019.
• The utilisation rate of the river cruise vessels passing the locks is also a key indicator with regard to assessing the recovery of the river cruise sector. For the year 2022, overall, this sector still reported lower utilisation rates of cruise vessels compared to the pre-pandemic levels. However, this indicator shows positive evolutions, as suggested by the data obtained for the Danubian river cruise sector (see following box – focus on capacity utilisation in the river cruise sector).

 

FIGURES 5, 6 AND 7: YEARLY NUMBER OF CRUISE VESSEL TRANSITS ON DANUBE, RHINE AND MOSELLE






Sources: German Waterway and Shipping Administration (WSV) and Moselle Commission
* Danube = Upper Danube, Austrian-German border (lock of Jochenstein)
Rhine = Upper Rhine (lock of Iffezheim)
Moselle = lock of Koblenz

 
• For two stretches of the Danube (Upper and Middle Danube), data regarding vessel movements and the number of passengers is available from 2015 onwards. This geographical distinction makes it possible to observe differences in cruising intensity on the different stretches of the Danube. The analysis shows that the activity is highest on the Upper Danube. Cruising activity on the Middle Danube south of Budapest is lower than on the Danube stretches upstream of Budapest.

FIGURES 8, 9 AND 10: EVOLUTION OF VESSEL MOVEMENTS AND PASSENGER NUMBERS PER STRETCHES OF THE DANUBE AND AVERAGE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS PER VESSEL *

 
FOCUS ON CAPACITY UTILISATION IN THE RIVER CRUISE SECTOR

• The analysis of the capacity utilisation of a fleet enables a thorough overview to be undertaken of how the supply/demand relationship evolves throughout the years.
• The degree of capacity utilisation of river cruise vessels on the Upper Danube can be calculated on the basis of data provided by the German Waterway Administration on river cruise vessels passing the lock of Jochenstein (German-Austrian border) on the Danube.

 

FIGURE 11: DEGREE OF CAPACITY UTILISATION OF RIVER CRUISE VESSELS ON THE DANUBE (%) *


* At the lock of Jochenstein (German-Austrian border)
Capacity utilisation = ratio of number of passengers divided by passenger capacity.
 
• This figure brings to the fore the recovery of the river cruise sector on the Danube. In fact, during the year 2022, a catch-up phenomenon for capacity utilisation could be observed, when comparing the 2022 data with 2019. Even though such data were not available for the Rhine and the Moselle, passenger demand is expected to increase, as suggested by different sources.⁵⁰ This will certainly have a positive effect on the degree of capacity utilisation.

 
 

AGE STRUCTURE OF THE RHINE PASSENGER FLEET

• As far as the passenger fleet is concerned, a distinction is made between passenger ferries, river cruise and passenger day-trip vessels. The following figure provides the best available representation of the current fleet and its evolution over time. However, it might be the case that vessels which are inactive today are included in these figures and that some of the newest vessels are not included. Most passenger ferries and passenger day trip vessels were built in the 20th century. The newbuilding activity for river cruises has been particularly intense in the 21st century.

 

FIGURE 12: COMMISSIONING YEARS FOR THE RHINE PASSENGER FLEET OVER TIME (NUMBER OF INLAND VESSELS)


Sources: IVR, CCNR analysis
Note that two river cruise vessels and 20 day-trip vessels have an unknown year of construction. The database of IVR accounts for active vessels but also includes some inactive vessels, in particular those commissioned in earlier years.