Spanish ports of general interest are participating in Seatrade Cruise Global, held in Fort Lauderdale, USA, from March 27 to 30, to promote port facilities and services for cruise tourism, with the participation of more than 80 shipping companies, 500 exhibitors from 85 countries and an attendance of more than 10,000 attendees.
The forecast for this year is the full recovery of cruise traffic and cruise passengers to pre-pandemic levels, which reached its historical peak in Spain in 2019, with more than 10.6 million cruise passengers and 4,236 cruise ships passing through the facilities of the Port Authorities, with annual growth of around 5%.
The importance of this industry in our economy is reflected in the fact that during that year, a turnover of almost 6 billion euros was obtained, contributing 2.8 billion euros to the national GDP, and more than 50,000 jobs.
At the close of 2022, more than 8.1 million cruise passengers and 4,525 cruise ships were recorded, exceeding the figures for 2019 in the latter case. The latest available data, corresponding to the month of February, counted more than 1.1 million cruise passengers, with an increase of 147.6% compared to the same period of the previous year, that is, the number of cruise passengers multiplied by almost 2.5 in the first two months of the year.
Public investment in facilities and equipment for passenger terminals, planned for the period 2023-2026, amounts to 176.2 million euros, with notable investments in the Port Authorities of the Balearic Islands, Tarragona, Valencia and Barcelona.
At this year's Seatrade Cruise Global, the State Ports Authority's stand is hosting the participating Port Authorities: A Coruña, Alicante, Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cartagena, Ferrol, Melilla, Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, and Vigo, as well as Tourspain. Also represented are the Port Authorities of Algeciras Bay, Almería, Cádiz Bay, Huelva, Málaga, Motril, and Seville, represented by Suncruise, and the Port Authorities of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife represented by Cruises Atlantic Islands.
Once again, the distinctive image of the Spanish port system at the fair is presented under the slogan, 'Ports of Spain. We welcome you as you deserve', with the aim of promoting destinations and services, and consolidating and increasing Spain's presence abroad.
