The three largest ports – Tromsø, the North Cape and Lofoten – will all experience significant traffic increases. These three ports will each receive more than 100 ships, which jointly accounts for around 70% of calls to the region. This year’s winner is Narvik, which will quadruple its traffic.
2018 will be a record year with 480,000 arriving passengers and more than 450 calls. ‘It’s particularly pleasing that this growth applies to all 11 ports,’ says Erik Joachimsen, the md of the region’s cruise network, Cruise Northern Norway & Svalbard (CNNS).
‘It’s important for the cruise network that the calls are spread across the entire region so as many as possible of the shore-based companies can take part in the value creation.’
The increase in cruise traffic may be attributed to several factors, says Joachimsen.
‘Several of the cruise ports in Western Norway have placed restrictions on the daily number of ships and passengers, which means cruise lines may be rejected on days with large traffic volumes. In such cases, the cruise lines will need to search for other sailing routes, and Northern Norway and Svalbard is a favourable alternative.
‘With the exception of certain days at the ports in Honningsvåg and Tromsø, all the ports in our region have good capacity. Product development initiatives are underway at all the destinations, so there is good reason to believe that the positive trend we are experiencing will continue,’ he concluded.
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