- The Mediterranean accounts for 57.8% of cruise passengers, and the Atlantic is the fastest growing region, with a growth of +19.6%
- Spain, with a 16.8% share of the European market in 2013, occupies the second position.
Spanish ports continue to climb the ranks in cruise tourism, and during the first six months of the year they reached 3,545,067 passengers, which has represented an increase of 8.6% compared to the same period of the previous year, and represents a new historical high, surpassing the last figure of 2014 in which 3.2 million cruise passengers were counted.
CRUISE PASSENGERS
Spanish Mediterranean ports account for 57.8% of the national total (2,050,341 passengers), with four destinations (Barcelona, Balearic Islands, Malaga and Valencia) accounting for 96% of the area, 1.96 million passengers.
The ports of the Canary Islands continue to increase their market share, and now account for 31.6% of the national total (1,118,945 passengers).
Atlantic ports, excluding the Canary Islands, account for 10.6% of the total (375,781 passengers), with the Bay of Cádiz, Vigo, and A Coruña being the most popular destinations, representing 83% of passenger traffic (311,682 passengers). However, the growth of Atlantic ports (an average of 19.7%) is significantly higher than that of the Canary Islands (9.4%) or the Mediterranean (6.5%).
– 7 OUT OF 10 EUROPEAN CRUISE PASSENGERS CHOOSE MEDITERRANEAN PORTS AS THEIR PREFERRED DESTINATION
The 40 largest cruise ports in Europe, including those on the non-European Mediterranean coast, welcomed 32.8 million cruise passengers in 2013, representing an average increase of 4%. According to the same data, 70% of cruise passengers opted for a Mediterranean itinerary, with 23.1 million people visiting a European port in 2013. Italy, with 9 ports, was the most visited country, followed by Spain with 7 ports, Greece with 5, and Germany and France with 3 each.
According to the latest Seatrade report, "End of the beginning for cruising," Italy received 6.9 million cruise passengers in 2013, accounting for 22.4% of the European total. Spain, with a 16.8% share and 5.2 million cruise passengers, ranked second in Europe, followed by Greece with 14.8% and 4.6 million passengers, Norway with 9.7% and 3 million, France with 7.7% and 2.4 million, Portugal with 3.7% and 1.1 million, and the United Kingdom with 2.8% and 866,000 passengers.
| CRUISE SHIP TRAFFIC IN MAJOR PORTS
EUROPE 2012-2013 |
||||
| Port (Country) | Area | 2012 | 2013 | |
| 1 | Barcelona (Spain) | Mediterranean | 2.408.634 | 2.599.232 |
| 2 | Civitavecchia (Italy) | Mediterranean | 2.394.423 | 2.538.259 |
| 3 | Venice (Italy) | Mediterranean | 1.739.501 | 1.815.823 |
| 4 | Southampton (United Kingdom) | Northern Europe | 1.577.790 | 1.646.000 |
| 5 | Balearic Islands (Spain) | Mediterranean | 1.297.525 | 1.532.508 |
| 6 | Piraeus (Greece) | Mediterranean | 1.290.300 | 1.302.581 |
| 7 | Marseille (France) | Mediterranean | 890.124 | 1.188.031 |
| 8 | Naples (Italy) | Mediterranean | 1.108.000 | 1.175.000 |
| 9 | Dubrovnik (Croatia) | Mediterranean | 873.800 | 1.137.000 |
| 10 | Genoa (Italy) | Mediterranean | 797.239 | 1.051.015 |
| 11 | Savona (Italy) | Mediterranean | 810.097 | 939.038 |
| 12 | Las Palmas (Spain) | Atlantic | 832.763 | 830.011 |
| 13 | Copenhagen (Denmark) | Northern Europe | 840.000 | 800.500 |
| 14 | SC Tenerife (Spain) | Atlantic | 885.623 | 794.343 |
| 15 | Katakolon (Greece) | Mediterranean | 749.892 | 763.966 |
| 16 | Santorini (Greece) | Mediterranean | 838.899 | 750.000 |
| 17 | Corfu (Greece) | Mediterranean | 655.764 | 744.651 |
| 18 | Livorno (Italy) | Mediterranean | 1.037.849 | 736.516 |
| 19 | French Riviera (France) | Mediterranean | 702.080 | 613.218 |
| 20 | Bari (Italy) | Mediterranean | 618.882 | 604.781 |
| 21 | Kusadasi (Türkiye) | Mediterranean | 564.555 | 583.459 |
| 22 | Lisbon (Portugal) | Atlantic | 522.604 | 559.434 |
| 23 | Hamburg (Germany) | Northern Europe | 430.329 | 552.359 |
| 24 | St. Petersburg (Russia) | Northern Europe | 452.000 | 523.525 |
| 25 | Mykonos (Greece) | Mediterranean | 657.511 | 520.000 |
| 26 | Tallinn (Estonia) | Northern Europe | 440.504 | 519.319 |
| 27 | Messina (Italy) | Mediterranean | 438.379 | 501.316 |
| 28 | Rostock (Germany) | Northern Europe | 382.000 | 483.000 |
| 29 | Stockholm (Sweden) | Northern Europe | 469.000 | 478.000 |
| 30 | Valletta (Malta) | Mediterranean | 611.757 | 477.759 |
| 31 | Funchal (Portugal) | Atlantic | 592.935 | 475.826 |
| 32 | Valencia (Spain) | Mediterranean | 480.233 | 473.114 |
| 33 | Bergen, Norway) | Northern Europe | 446.906 | 453.322 |
| 34 | Helsinki (Finland) | Northern Europe | 366.000 | 424.000 |
| 35 | Palermo (Italy) | Mediterranean | 354.399 | 410.999 |
| 36 | Malaga (Spain) | Mediterranean | 651.517 | 397.095 |
| 37 | Toulon/St. Tropez (France) | Mediterranean | 311.072 | 385.971 |
| 38 | Bay of Cadiz (Spain) | Atlantic | 334.268 | 375.114 |
| 39 | Kiel (Germany) | Northern Europe | 348.180 | 363.476 |
| 40 | Stavanger (Norway) | Northern Europe | 375.000 | 343.000 |
| TOTAL | 31.578.334 | 32.862.561 | ||
Source: CLIA Europe, State Ports
– 1,646 CRUISE SHIPS CALLED AT SPANISH PORTS
The trend towards gigantism, which is also evident in freight transport, means that the increase in passenger traffic is not reflected in the same way in the number of ships. Thus, while in past decades the number of passengers per ship ranged between 2,500 and 3,500, today it has reached between 3,500 and 4,500 passengers per ship. Therefore, with a mere 0.9% increase in the number of ships (from 1,632 in 2014 to 1,646 in 2015), an 8.6% increase in the number of passengers has been achieved.
