The Brits love nothing more than 'simply messing about in boats'. 
06.03.2013
The Brits love nothing more than 'simply messing about in boats'.
“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
This is perhaps one of the best known lines from Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and indeed classical British literature in general. And it appears to be true judging by figures released by the Passenger Shipping Association this week.
According to the very latest research and in spite of a dip in ocean cruising, the number of Brits taking a river cruise rose by an impressive 14% in 2012. This represents a whopping 130,000 passengers. On top of this, River Cruises in Europe came out very much on top in terms of popularity, with river cruises in the area representing a 69% share of the river market. This compares to 50% in 2009 and is down in part to many new cruises, destinations and river boats on offer.
However, unlike the ‘River Bank’ in Grahame’s classic, this river bank now has an incredible £175m in UK sales alone, something I’m sure Mr Toad would have been more than delighted to lay his greedy little pads on. Top of the list of rivers in Europe is the Rhine/Moselle and its tributaries with around 21% of cruises booked and the Danube with 12%.
According to the Passenger Shipping Association the UK river cruise sector is thriving and becoming ever more significant and we tend to agree, which is why we built this fab website of course!