197 calls carrying 810,000 passengers have been recorded in 2017, corresponding to a 12% growth in passengers compared to last year.
For 2018, 220 calls are scheduled so far, with CGH expecting 880,000 passengers.
26 cruise lines with 50 different ships will call Hamburg next year, including a newcomer which Sacha Rougier, md of CGH, was particularly proud to announce: 'We are delighted that Viking Cruises will send not one but two luxury ships to Hamburg, namely the Viking Sun and Viking Sky.'
The pair are among 10 maiden calls booked, featuring Asuka 2, AIDAperla, AIDAnova, Mein Schiff 1, MSC Meraviglia, Navigator of the Seas, Seabourn Ovation and new Mein Schiff 1 which will be christened in Hamburg next May. Most frequently calling cruise line customers continue to be AIDA and MSC Cruises.
Aiming to promote the use of environmentally friendly power, Hamburg will implement new discounts on the port fees and an additional environmental component to reward clean ships. According to Jens Meier, ceo of Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), already 30% of the ships that called Hamburg this year used alternative energy such as shore power or LNG. 'The shore power station in Altona, which is unique in the world, successfully started regular operations at the beginning of the season. Cruise ships mooring there can now be supplied with zero-emission eco-power,' Meier outlined.
It announced that Hamburg Cruise Net e.V. (HCN), a Public-Private-Partnership network, is formally succeeding Hamburg Cruise Center (HCC) as a body to support the continued development of cruise traffic in Hamburg.
HCN aims to be a platform bringing public and private cruise tourism stakeholders together, among others through expert committees set up to identify and utilise opportunities brought about by the strong growth of cruise passenger volumes at Hamburg.
Among the members of HCN is CGH, along with other public bodies such as Hamburg Marketing and the Hamburg Convention Bureau. Dr Stefan Behn acts as chairman of the board of HCN, while Matthias Rieger – who has been md of HCC since 2015 – is the managing director. Beyond its network function, HCN – which originally started existence as an initiative launched by the Hamburg Senate back in 2014 – is also involved with marketing and PR.
The central point of contact for cruise lines is, however, Cruise Gate Hamburg.
Hamburg will once again host Seatrade Europe with the next event taking place between September 11-13, 2019.
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