The Port of the Bay of Cadiz closed 2024 with a new record high in the number of cruise passengers, with 695,171, 2 percent more than the previous year.
With 333 calls compared to 347 in 2023, a 4 percent decrease, the port of Cadiz remains the leading Andalusian port in cruise traffic and the second largest on the Iberian Peninsula in calls, after Barcelona.
The average size of ships arriving in port also grows by 2 percent compared to 2023, with an average GT of 82,243 units; as well as the average occupancy of cruise ships, which goes from 1,958 passengers in 2023 to 2,087 in 2024.
However, the percentage of premium or deluxe, with fewer passengers of higher purchasing power, accounted for 51 percent of the total calls in 2024.
According to the latest study conducted by the Andalusian Regional Government on cruise tourism in the region, the average expenditure per cruise passenger per day in a port of call is €40.60, and can reach up to €200 in the case of a home port. Thus, the impact of this activity in 2024 could have reached €28 million, counting only the spending of cruise passengers and not including that generated by other passengers.
As recently announced, the Port of Cadiz Bay currently has 351 cruise ship calls planned for 2025, to which we should add the stops of the Belle de Cadix, which makes about forty-five calls a year.
In total, and if the forecasts are met, the Port Authority of the Bay of Cadiz (APBC) would be facing a new historical figure, with 396 calls, 63 more than in 2024.
It is worth noting that out of 365 days a year, there will be no cruise ships in port on 149 days (41 percent), and on 126 days there will only be one cruise ship (practically one out of every three days). Two ships will be in port on 57 days; three on 26 days; four are expected on seven days; and five cruise ships will be in port on one day.
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