Cruise passengers from the Port of Barcelona now make up 61% of all cruise passengers arriving in the Catalan capital. This was announced by representatives of the Port of Barcelona at Seatrade Cruise Med, the leading cruise trade fair in the Mediterranean, held in Tenerife.
The Deputy Director General for Strategy and Commercial Affairs, Santiago Garcia-Milà, and the Head of Cruises at the Port of Barcelona, Mar Pérez, explained that in the last year, homeport cruise passengers have increased from 55% to 61% of the total. “This demonstrates that the strategy of creating a sustainable model, which we have been promoting at the Port for years, is bearing fruit,” Garcia-Milà stated.
Two significant examples of major cruise operators' commitment to Barcelona as a home port are Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Carnival is about to begin construction on a new cruise terminal at the Adossat dock in the Catalan port, which, at 10,000 square meters, will be the largest in Europe. Royal Caribbean, on the other hand, is a shareholder in Creuers del Port de Barcelona, the company that manages the port's public terminals.
According to the study "Impact on the Catalan Economy and Socioeconomic Profile of Cruise Passengers," prepared by the University of Barcelona, cruise passengers whose home port is Barcelona and who stay in the city have an average stay of 2.6 days, stay in 4-star hotels, and have an economic impact of €202 per day. The University of Barcelona report also reveals that of all cruise passengers, 24% stay overnight in city hotels (and remain in Barcelona as tourists) and 19% go directly to the airport. The remaining 57% spend a day in the Catalan capital.
The Port's Cruise Director also highlighted the efforts the Catalan infrastructure is making to overcome the seasonality associated with the cruise sector, a strategy that is yielding significant results. Between January and April 2016 – months traditionally considered 'low season' – cruise passengers at the Port of Barcelona grew by 9.5%, reaching 480,000. Furthermore, and very significantly, the segment of homeport cruise passengers increased by 55% during this period. Companies such as MSC, NCL, Costa, and Viking are among the cruise lines that are choosing to base their ships in Barcelona during the winter months.
