By
Rebecca Gibson |
Sweden’s Port of Stockholm is to handle around 470,000 passengers and 274 international cruise ships in the 2014 season.
After a record 2013 cruise season, the port is set to welcome 36 ships on turnaround cruises from lines such as Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Windstar Cruises, Crystal Cruises and Oceania Cruises.
“Cruise passengers choose Stockholm for all it has to offer as Scandinavia’s premier travel destination, whether it be food, museums, design, shopping or music,” said Claudia Quas, project manager of Stockholm Cruise Network. “Thanks to its compact size, the city is the perfect cruise destination for day trippers as well as turnarounds.”
A recent survey showed that 97% of passengers go ashore in Stockholm and spend an average of 5.9 hours on land, compared to a European average of 87% and 4.8 hours, according to Stockholm Visitors Board.
“Stockholm’s hotels and attractions are generally considered ‘high class’, and the city itself gets very high customer satisfaction ratings on shore excursions,” said Quas. “Ever the dynamic city, Stockholm continues to entice passengers with new attractions and events each year. This year, we are also expecting more UK passengers than ever before, thanks to the exceptional prices on Baltic cruises currently in the market.”
Cruise lines visiting Stockholm also benefit from the fact that it is one of the only ports in the world that can manage both black and grey water at all piers and offers cruise companies financial rebates for sorting their waste. Over the winter months, the port also invested considerably in improvements to these wastewater collection facilities.