German cruise port welcomed 175 cruise calls from 39 vessels and 354,000 passengers this year
By
Rebecca Gibson |
AIDA Cruises’ AIDAmar closed the 2015 cruise season at the Port of Rostock-Warnemunde on 17 October.
This year, the German port welcomed 175 cruise calls from 39 vessels and more than 354,000 individual passengers, leading to a total of 700,000 passenger movements.
“Warnemünde was again the most frequented cruise port in Germany,” said Jens Scharner, managing director at Rostock Port Development Company. “We thank all the cruise shipping companies, service providers and public authorities for the good cooperation this year.”
In total, 163 calls were hosted at Warnemünde, while 12 were welcomed by the overseas port. Collectively, the ports handled 92 turnarounds during which all or some of the passengers embarked or disembarked. AIDA Cruises’ AIDAdiva and AIDAmar both embarked on Baltic Sea cruises from the port, while 28 international shipping companies visited the port as part of their itineraries. Princess Cruises’ 330m, 142,714gt Royal Princess was the largest visitor.
More than 130,000 people started and/or ended their cruise in Warnemünde, while 165,000 spent the day in Warnemünde, Rostock or Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Around 57,000 (16%) took a coach or train to Berlin.
Around 110,000 of the total 354,000 cruise travellers who visited Warnemünde were German, while 55,000 were from the US and 27,000 were from Britain. The port also welcomed 23,000 Spaniards, 17,000 Italians, 15,000 Canadians, 10,000 Australians and 97,000 tourists from 148 other nations. The ships carried 133,000 crew members from 129 countries, more than a third of whom went on shore leave.
According to a study by Rostock University, cruise travellers and crew spent €15 million in local and regional shops, hotels and restaurants, on public transport, taxi rides and car parking in Warnemünde and Rostock last year. Coach operators, railway, travel agents for shore excursions, utilities, supply and disposal companies, shipping agents, pilots and port operators generated additional revenue.
“It’s a long value-added chain and that’s why the cruise business in Warnemünde is so important for the city and the federal state,” said Scharner.