Southampton: Europe's Busiest Turnaround Port

25 June 2013, 09:22 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Figures out show Southampton's now Europe's busiest turnaround port with 1.5 million people passing through the city last year.

Each ship that comes into the port is thought to be worth around £2.5 million to the city's economy and it's good news for employment too; the industry supports more than 11,000 jobs across south east England.

The figures, from the Cruise Lines International Association show spending on cruises in the U.K. last year rose 3.7% to £2.49 billion, and the industry's contribution to the economies of Europe was also up in 2012 - rising 3.4% to £13.15 billion.

Britons took more than 1.7 million cruise holidays last year, with the UK staying Europe's biggest cruise market with a total share of 27.7%.

CLIA UK and Ireland director Andy Harmer said: "These figures demonstrate the continued and growing strength of the British cruise market."