Cruise ships market and the first passenger ships started to develop in the early 20th century. This form of travel was unaffordable for the most of the people. Companies themselves were also focusing on ocean liners rather than on cruise ships. Ocean liners were the main source of intercontinental transport at the time. The companies competed between each other, to build the biggest and fastest liner, mainly because of the large migration from Europe to the USA at that time. The first fall of the cruise liner market was caused by the development of the aviation industry. Airplanes allowed people to cross oceans much faster than traditional cruise liners. The first fall of the market also brought positive side. Modern cruise ships started to develop in the direction as we know them today. Speed is no longer as important as it used to be. It has been replaced with comfort, animation, variety of different offers and itineraries.
Since the development of the modern cruise ships till covid-19 pandemic (1990-2020), the cruise market was booming and evolving. The only time the industry experienced a negligible fall was during the real estate crisis in 2008/2009. Year after year, records were broken in terms of technology, finances, the size and number of cruise ships and the number of passengers carried. The size and cost-effectiveness of ships that have made cruises accessible to a wider range of people. Every year this branch of tourism becomes more and more popular. The rise of the industry has been shaken by the recent coronavirus pandemic. It shut down (stopped) the cruise ship industry overnight and companies found themselves in a very uncomfortable situation. Their ships were left overnight without passengers and tied up along the shore. Older ships ended up in scrapping yards because of the high maintenance costs. Many small companies also went bankrupt. Almost two years after the arrival of coronavirus pandemic, the cruise ship industry is slowly rising again. Measures related to the covid-19 pandemic have started to be abandoned and the cruise ship industry is back on track.
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