Southampton is to play a vital role in helping to pump billions of pounds into the UK over the coming year.

In return the city will see more cash flowing into businesses, a strengthened jobs market and a further heightening of the port’s reputation as a world-class centre for shipping.

Already northern Europe’s main operating base for the cruise industry, Southamp-ton is due to see a further major boost in 2012.

It is anticipated 1.5 million passengers – an increase of 100,000 on last year – will pass over Southampton’s dockside to begin and end a cruise.

The predictions in a cruise industry report come after the Daily Echo revealed yesterday that the city was to get a £45m cruise boost.

Royal Caribbean Lines announced it is to base a second cruise ship, Adventure of the Seas, in the city from spring of next year.

Across the board, UK cruise industry revenues have gone up from £2.3 billion to more than £2.4 billion in 2011, according to industry trade body the Passenger Shipping Association.

It adds that the average price paid for a berth was also up slightly, at £1,434.

As more people pour into the docks this year, businesses including hotels, transport operators such as taxi companies, train services, and Southampton Airport, restaurants, specialist ship services and supplies, city centre shops, and port fees, will all make a considerable contribution to the city’s prosperity, as well as safeguarding thousands of jobs in the region.

Recent publicity surrounding the Costa Concordia tragedy, and the news of Costa Allegra being cast adrift in the Indian Ocean, seems not to have caused any long-term damage to the industry, and despite Britain’s economic gloom, people are still looking for the high life at sea.

Crucially, according to the the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA), it is ex-UK voyages which have seen the biggest growth over the past 12 months, a trend confidently expected to continue this year, with Southampton being the main beneficiary of this increase in numbers.

British holidaymakers are turning to departure points such as Southampton because of the impact of Air Passenger Duty, the Government tax which has forced up the cost of flying.

Delivering the PSA’s annual report, the organisation’s director Bill Gibbons said: “If current trends continue, within three years half of British passengers will begin their cruise from a UK port.

“As recently as 2004, one-third of passengers were choosing this option, so these latest figures represent a dramatic change in people’s choice.

“This transformation was never more evident than in 2011 when, for the first time in six years, the number of passengers flying overseas to embark on a cruise actually fell.’’ Southampton-based vessels have also been key in developing the new and expanding market of short city breaks, weekend party cruises, and taster voyages for first-time passengers.

Mr Gibbons said: “These relatively short voyages of two or three nights are now a product in their own right, appealing to passengers looking for an alternative to hotel-based breaks, which has more inclusive pricing.

“The number of British holidaymakers booking a foreign vacation in 2011 was the lowest so far this century, so once again, this year’s real holiday success story was cruising.’’ This was achieved in the face of unforeseen events in the Middle East and North Africa, where the “Arab spring” caused widespread disruption to Mediterranean cruise schedules in the early part of 2011.

However, the cruise industry has the unique ability to move its ships to other ports, away from trouble spots.

Later in the year the euro crisis put even more pressure on a fragile economy.

“The impact of both events is reflected in the overall fall in foreign leisure travel but the value proposition offered by cruising clearly helped this sector outperform the market and take an even greater share of it in the process,’’ said Mr Gibbons.

“Double digit growth is predicted in 2015 with the arrival in Southampton of a further P&O Cruises ship, designed specifically for the UK market.

“The rise could come sooner if an existing ship is redeployed to cruise out of the UK by an international or British brand buying or chartering a vessel.’’