2015 cruise traffic in Italian ports

In 2015 cruise traffic in Italian ports is estimated at about 10.9 million passengers handled (+5.4% with respect to the definitive figures for 2014) and 4,566 cruise calls (-2.3%).

The new predictions are in “Speciale Crociere 2015”, a publication dedicated to the analysis of the cruise sector in Italy, realised by Risposte Turismo.

The report also contains the figures relative to the total number of passengers for 2014 in 45 Italian cruise ports: about 10.4 million cruise passenger movements (-8.2% with respect to 2013) of whom about 2.4 million in Liguria (+4.7%), for the first time top of the regional classifications, ahead of Lazio (about 2.1 million passengers, -15.6%) and the Veneto (about 1.7 million passengers, -4.4%).

About 10.9 million passenger movements (+5.4%) and 4,566 cruise calls (-2.3%), with Civitavecchia, Venice and Naples confirmed for the first three steps of the podium, thanks, respectively, to about 2.3 million (+9.6%), 1.5 million (-10%) and 1.2 million (+7.7%) passenger movements and 806 (-3.1%), 498 (+2%) and 430 (+7.8%) cruise calls.

These, in synthesis, are the updated predictions for cruise traffic expected for Italy in 2015 (embarks, disembarks and transits) elaborated by Risposte Turismo – a research and consultancy company servicing the tourism industry –and contained in “Speciale Crociere 2015”, a publication dedicated to the sector in Italy, now in its fifth edition and available as of next week on the Risposte Turismo website.

These data, the results of information gathered from 40 ports, representing 94%, in 2014, of passenger traffic and 91% of cruise calls, confirming the recovery of the Italian cruise market predicted last October in Naples on the occasion of the fourth edition of Italian Cruise Day.

“With some interesting deployment choices made by the companies,” comments Francesco di Cesare, President of Risposte Turismo, “Italy will return, in 2015, to register increased traffic movements with respect to last year. Some examples are Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas with regular calls at Naples, Civitavecchia and La Spezia, MSC Crociere’s Preziosa and Divina operating in the west Mediterranean, and the novelty represented by Costa Mediterranea’s overnight in Trieste and MSC’s Magnifica in Brindisi.”

“First reflection, and then action,” continued di Cesare, “should be aimed at making sure that this recovery is consolidated in the coming years, allowing, and justifying, new investments both by the companies and the ports.”

In addition to the updated predictions for 2015, “Speciale Crociere 2015” produced by RisposteTurismo contains data for cruise traffic registered in 2014 in 45 Italian ports involved in cruise tourism.

In particular, 2014 closed with a -8.2% reduction with respect to 2013, for a total of about 10.4 million passenger movements, the lowest figures of the last 4 years.
The reduction also affected the number of cruise calls, which went from 5,159 in 2013 to 4,670 in 2014 (-9.5%).

With regard to the regions, in 2014 Liguria took the lead for the first time with about 2.4 million passenger movements (+4.7% with respect to 2013) and 930 cruise calls (+12.2%), values equal to, respectively, 22.9% of Italian cruise traffic and 19.9% of the total cruise calls registered last year in our country.

Followed by, as regards cruise traffic, Lazio with about 2.1 million passenger movements (-15.6% with respect to 2013), equal to 20.7% of the national total and the total for the Veneto, with about 1.7 million passenger movements (-4.4%), equal to 16.7% of the cruise traffic for Italy.

However, with regard to cruise calls, after Liguria, still in first place, come Lazio and Sicily with 876 and 723 calls each, a fall of respectively 12.3% and of 12.7% with respect to the values of 2013.

It should be noted that, in 2014, the first three regions handled about 60% of the passengers and 50% of the calls. And, according to the data collected, Calabria is the region with the highest growth with respect to 2013, both in terms of passenger movements (+109.5%) and number of cruise calls (+16.7%), while Liguria leads in absolute terms, (+107 thousand passengers and +101 cruise calls).

The study also showed that in 2014 only three Italian regions (Abruzzo, Basilicata and Molise), of the fifteen that face onto the sea, did not register any cruise traffic.

In addition, in the regional classifications, the decline of the Marche is highlighted, going from 9th to 11th place, to the advantage of Emilia Romagna and Friuli Venezia Giulia, which obtained, respectively, 9th and 10th position.

The data for 2014, relative to the individual cruise ports, confirm Venice in first place of the ports with the largest number of embarks and disembarks thanks to the more than 1.5 million passenger movements, followed by Civitavecchia and Savona with, respectively, 730 thousand and 668 thousand.

With regard to cruise passengers in transit, Civitavecchia firmly holds the lead (about 1.4 million), followed by Naples (a little more than 1 million) and Livorno (about 624 thousand).

From an analysis of the data it emerges that the first five Italian ports obtained, in 2014, very high shares of traffic, that is, 90% of passengers handled and 70% of cruise calls.

Lastly, in 2014, four of the country’s ports exceeded a million passengers handled (Civitavecchia, Venice, Naples and Savona), and thirteen exceeded the threshold of one hundred thousand passengers.
Risposte Turismo is a research and consultancy company servicing the tourism macro industry founded and directed by Francesco di Cesare