Québec, Montréal and Saguenay were the three busiest of the association's nine cruise ports
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Cruise the Saint Lawrence welcomed a total of 269,940 cruise passengers, 103,940 crew members and 29 international cruise ships during 435 calls at its nine member ports in the 2015 season.
This marks an increase from 2014 when the Canadian cruise port association welcomed 348 stopovers by 27 different ships.
In 2015, the three busiest ports were Québec, Montréal and Saguenay, which welcomed 45.1%, 24.3% and 12.2% of the total number of international cruise passengers respectively. Around 115,427 passengers embarked or disembarked in Québec or Montréal, generating added visitor spending at each destination.
“Destination Saint Lawrence consistently gains in notoriety with international cruise lines from one year to the next owing notably to promotional activities and implementation of strategies developed by the Ministry of Tourism and international cruise sector partners,” said Dominique Vien, Canada’s Minister of Tourism for the Chaudière/Appalaches region. “Given that cruise-based tourism generates added annual visitor spending of CAD$145 million and accounts for 1,600 direct sector-related jobs, we must continue to deploy all necessary efforts to ensure that we position the Saint Lawrence as a destination of choice.”
Cruise visitor numbers are also set to remain high in 2016.
“Based on bookings received to date by our different Saint Lawrence ports of call, we can already confirm that the upcoming season promises to be as good, if not better than the one just ended,” said Tony Boemi, president of Cruise the Saint Lawrence, and vice president of, Growth and Development at Montréal Port Authority. “This is a sure sign of cruise line confidence and proof positive that efforts by member ports of call to enhance cruise passenger greeting infrastructure have begun to pay handsome rewards.”