These figures, highlighting respective 6.4% and 4.1% increases over 2017, were released during the Italian Cruise Day today in Palermo. This annual cruise sector forum was organized by Risposte Turismo’s tourism research and consulting company, in partnership with western Sicily’s Port Authority System (Autorità di Sistema Portuale) and the support of CLIA Europe.
According to Risposte Turismo’s Italian Cruise Watch 2017 report, presented at the same event by company president Francesco di Cesare, the estimated 2018 figures won’t make up for 2017's contraction in numbers.
Civitavecchia will continue its leading position with 2.5m passengers and a growth of 12% compared to 2017, when numbers are estimated to reach 2.2m passengers and 741 calls. Venice will remain in second place with traffic holding flat at 1.4m passengers and 473 calls, down 11.4% and 10.6% respectively compared to 2016.
Naples will reach almost 1m passengers, a 15% increase from 2017, when numbers are expected to decine 27.3% and 29% compared to 950,000 passengers and 350 calls registered in 2016.
Savona will follow in fourth place with 950,000 passengers and a 12.6% increase compared to the 843,853 passengers in 2016. Genoa, meanwhile, is expected to post a slight gain (0.5%), to 920,000 passengers, compared to 915,000 passengers and 208 calls in 2017, positioning itself in fifth place.
The Italian Cruise Watch 2017 report also highlighted that five Italian ports—Civitavecchia, Venice, Naples, Genoa and Savona—are at second, fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth place respectively in the provisional list of top 10 Mediterranean ports for passenger traffic in 2017, demonstrating the importance of the region for cruising.
The report also analyzed other key aspects of the cruise sector in Italy and the Mediterranean in 2018 and future years.
Among these, the number of cruise terminals will grow to 47 in 2018, compared to 44 in 2017, and the investments in this infrastructure by the main national ports will total €300m for the 2018-2020 period. About half that amount will go toward security and equipment and the rest for infrastructure.
For the fourth consecutive year, estimates of travel agencies’ cruise sales in 2017 and 2018 are positive, highlighting the importance of the sector to the national economy. The report cited an increasing trend for both first-time cruisers and passengers under 30.
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