Swan Hellenic reported record July revenue in 2026, up 170 per cent year on year, with an average guest age of 43. Global year-to-date growth reached 268 per cent. The operator says multigenerational travel is growing at triple-digit rates. Polar voyages supplied two-thirds of the reported growth, and new Asia-Pacific itineraries rose 373 per cent year on year.
Younger guests are changing how operators sell expedition cruises
Mario Bounas, chief commercial officer and a recent Cruise360 panellist, said younger passengers and families travelling across generations were becoming more important to the business. The average age of 43 sits well below the traditional expedition cruise profile. Bounas described the shift as a reason for the travel trade to stop treating expedition cruising as a bucket list item for the twilight years, and said the market is ready to invest in life-changing experiences.
The broader cruise market is also growing. Skift Research's The State of Travel 2026 puts global cruise passengers at a record 37.2 million in 2025, against 31.7 million in 2023, and forecasts 42 million by 2028. About one in three cruisers is under 40.
The release also says 43 per cent of travellers put experiences above destinations, comfort or convenience, and that 93 per cent of Gen Z and Millennial parents consider travel important for their children. Eighty-one per cent said their own parents instilled that value. Those figures describe travel and cruising broadly, not expedition demand specifically. They support the direction of Swan Hellenic's numbers, but they do not measure the same market.
Australian data points to the same shift
Virtuoso's 2027 Luxe Report ranked multigenerational travel as the leading travel trend in Australia and New Zealand, with expedition cruising second. Expedition cruising also ranked third among solo travel experiences, behind health and wellness and guided tours. Antarctica led the report's rankings for destinations on the rise, adventure travel and cruise itineraries. Virtuoso's Australian and New Zealand partner cruise sales grew close to 11 per cent in 2026, with expedition cruising the strongest-selling cruise category locally.
According to the Cruise Lines International Association's 2025 Source Market Report, Australia recorded 1.45 million ocean cruise passengers, up 9.5 per cent on 2024, and became the world's fourth-largest cruise source market. The average Australian passenger age fell to 47.3, with 34.2 per cent of passengers under 40. In 2025, 286,000 Australians cruised outside Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, up 17 per cent.
Kirsty Fruin, Swan Hellenic's sales director for Australia and New Zealand, said repeat bookings were extending across polar and warmer destinations. She said the opportunity for Australian travel agents was to widen who they consider for expedition itineraries, including solo travellers, young couples and multigenerational groups who may not have asked for an expedition cruise by name.
SH Minerva stays in Asia-Pacific until 2028
Swan Hellenic plans to keep SH Minerva in Asia-Pacific waters until 2028, with more dates and itineraries in planning for 2029 and beyond. Its programme covers Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, remote Pacific islands, the Philippines and Raja Ampat, plus Antarctic voyages. Swan Hellenic also placed among the top five expedition cruise lines in Condé Nast Traveller's Readers' Choice Awards 2026.
For a buyer, the average guest age is a useful benchmark, but not a promise. The question worth putting to an operator is which departures are drawing multigenerational groups and what on board programming supports younger guests. An operator that answers with specifics has adapted to the market Swan Hellenic is describing.