What is the development history of the world cruise tourism industry?

The development history of the world cruise tourism industry is as follows: the prototype appeared in the 1830s, and took the lead in realizing modernization transformation in North America in the 1950s and 1960s. After more than 40 years of industrial development and technological progress, the modern cruise industry has gradually evolved into a new industry based on large-scale luxury cruise ships and with transnational tourism as its core. It is a high-end product in the tourism market.

Industry characteristics. The international cruise industry has two distinctive characteristics: first, it can drive and promote the development of ship maintenance, port services and other related industries in the regional nodes involved in cruise voyages to a certain extent; second, cruise passengers have a much higher income than ordinary people. The consumption power has a certain stimulating effect on the service industry of port cities on the route. ?

Industry scale: In the past 50 years, the modern cruise industry has grown at an average annual rate of 8-9%, which is about twice the average growth rate of international tourism output value. As of the end of 2004, there were 256 cruise ships of various types in the world with 302,064 passenger seats. In 2004, it actually carried 11.65 million passengers, with a passenger occupancy rate of 84%, sales revenue of nearly 20 billion US dollars, and per capita consumption level of about 1,500 US dollars. ?

The United States is currently the world's largest cruise consumer market, with a total number of 8.9 million passengers in 2004. The annual cruise economy's total revenue reaches 20 billion US dollars, involving navigation, shipbuilding, construction, manufacturing, commerce, transportation, finance and insurance, catering and accommodation and other related industries. The cruise economy also provides 268,000 jobs for the United States, with total wage income of US$9.72 billion, showing a strong socio-economic driving role.