New study shows 4,297,841 people visited ports in the Baltic Sea as part of their cruise in 2015
By
Rebecca Gibson |
A total of 4,297,841 people visited ports in the Baltic Sea as part of their cruise in 2015, a 0.5% increase from 2014, according to a new study from Cruise Baltic.
Cruise Baltic’s Market Review 2016 contains an analysis of cruise data from all 29 of its member ports, as well as St Petersburg in Russia, Kiel in Germany and Riga, Latvia. The report was released at Seatrade Cruise Global, which is taking place between 14 and 17 March in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US.
The report indicated that on average, the number of cruise passengers visiting the Cruise Baltic destinations has increased by 9.7% annually, rising from 1.1 million in 2000 to nearly 4.3 million in 2015. The number of calls has also grown 2.6% per year from 1,479 in 2000 to 2,174 last year, while turnarounds have increased by 6.9% annually from 106 in 2000 to 422 in 2015.
Last year, Stockholm in Sweden recorded the highest passenger growth rate, welcoming 530,229 passengers, 12.8% more than the 470,000 in 2014. Tallinn in Estonia also handled 4.5% more visitors in 2015 than in 2014.
An average of 0.3% passenger growth was also recorded in the larger ports of Rostock and Kiel in Germany, Oslo and Kristiansand in Norway, and Riga in Latvia. Combined passenger numbers at these ports hit 1,279,679, while the total number of calls reached 516 in 2015, a figure that is expected to increase by 1.2% to 522 in 2016.
Passenger figures also increased by 11.2% in the 17 smaller ports, including six that achieved more than 100% of growth last year. These included Turku and Kemi, Finland; Aalborg, Fredericia and Skagen, Denmark; and Arendal, Norway. Overall passenger figures are expected to grow by 11.0% to 161 calls in 2016.
Conversely, the medium-sized ports of Visby and Gothenburg in Sweden, Klaipeda in Lithuania, and Aarhus in Denmark recorded a decrease of 8.1% in the number of passengers. However, within this overall figure, Klaipeda and Aarhus grew by 4.2% and 10.9% respectively.
Cruise Baltic’s report also showed that last year the Baltic ports hosted a total of 2,174 cruise ship visits, a drop of 8.7% from 2014. Although they handled 62.1% of the region’s total calls, numbers at each of the top five cruise ports decreased. This included Copenhagen, Denmark (-9.6%); St Petersburg, Russia (-9.5%); Tallinn, Estonia (-5.7%); Stockholm, Sweden (-5.3%); and Helsinki, Finland (-2.7%).
In 2016, the Cruise Baltic destinations are set to welcome 2% more passengers than last year, while total calls are set to grow by 1.2% to reach 2,201 and total turnarounds will increase by 11.1% from 407 in 2015 to an estimated 452 in 2016.
Rostock is expected to receive 510,000 people – its highest to date – and cruise guest numbers in St Petersburg and Copenhagen will grow by 0.9% and 9.3% respectively, while Stockholm will remain stable and Tallinn will experience a slight 0.1% decrease.
Meanwhile, turnarounds are expected to increase by 11.2% in Copenhagen, 10.2% in Kiel, 4.2% in Rostock, 5.7% in Stockholm and 14.3% in Malmo. Aarhus expects to have 14 part-turnarounds, which will make it the region’s fifth biggest turnaround port.
“I believe 2016 will prove to be a particularly significant and positive year for our Baltic Sea destinations – Rostock is expecting its highest number ever of cruise guests (510,000); and Aarhus will increase from 29,000 passengers in 2015 to welcoming almost 80,000 in 2016,” said Claus Bødker, Cruise Baltic’s director. “We are committed to offering our guests a truly great experience, with added value; and are dedicated to bringing more ‘industry firsts’ to the marketplace in order to match the competition from the new, emerging cruise destinations.”