The “Special Tourism Cruise Offering Research” foresees that in 2017 Italy sea cruise activity will undergo a reduction of 7.1% passengers in Italian sea ports (10.3 million) and a 9.6% reduction of cruise ships (4,500) at the same time, due mainly to the lower number of cruise ship liners that will cross the Mediterranean versus 2016.
It is estimated that at the end of 2017, the number of ports whose capacity can handle more than one million passengers, could fall from 4 to 3, namely: Civitavecchia (2.202 million, -5.9%), Venice (1.422 million, -11, 4%), and Naples (1 million, -23.4%); to follow: Genoa, Savona, and all the others.
“Eleven million passengers continue to be the number around which cruise ship traffic in Italy rotates, sometimes exceeding this threshold, with others falling below it,” said Francesco di Cesare, President of Tourism Answers. After 2 years of growth and stability, 2017 will record a threshold much lower than this. More than half of the top 10 national teams will have a contraction: Venice, having lost its third position in the top 10 of the Mediterranean, could, for example, lose the fourth and go to the fifth position – a warning that heeds attention, investments, and coordination to ensure that cruise ships continue to represent a hub of great results for Italy is required.”
A special issue also features an analysis about cruise ships by area of destination. In 2017, the Mediterranean could record the lowest share in the last 10 years (15.5% compared to 18.3% in 2016). In first place is the Caribbean (35.6%), while Asia stands out at worldwide (10.9%), despite 10 years ago, when it was 1.5%.
The report also includes a list of the top 10 ports in the Mediterranean for the number of passengers carried in 2016. Five of them are on the list for Italy, with Civitavecchia in second position (around 2.3 million), Venice at 4th (about 1.6 million), Naples at 6th (about 1.3 million), Genoa at 8th (just over 1 million), and Savona at 9th (about 910,000).
Lastly, the Tourism Cruise Special supplies last year’s cruise data recorded in all Italian ports, confirming a substantial stability in terms of passengers (around 11 million) and a rise in ship-to-ship traffic from 4,824 to 4,980 (+3.2%). At the regional level, in terms of passengers, was Liguria (about 2.5 million, -3.8%), Lazio (2.3 million, + 2.9%), and Veneto (1.6 million, +1, 4%).
Regarding ships call, Lazio is at the top (870; +6.5%), followed by Sicily (814; +11.1%), and Campania and Liguria (with 803 and 788 vessels, respectively). Regarding the number of cruise liners that have accommodated cruise ships in 2016, Sicily is ranked first in the regional classification with 10 calls, followed by Liguria (9) and Campania (7).
The 2016 data on individual cruise lines confirms Venice as the first homeport in Italy, thanks to just over 1.4 million passengers who embarked and disembarked, followed by Civitavecchia and Genoa with about 847,000 and 642,000 passengers, respectively.
On cruise passengers in transit, Civitavecchia again confirms the leadership of (about 1.5 million), followed by Naples (about 1.2 million), and Livorno (about 798,000).
(eTN):Sea cruise traffic reduction foreseen for Italy | re-post license | post content