Mediterranean cruise market recorded 5% growth in port visits during 2018 compared to 2017 (12,734 and 12,130 respectively), announced Airam Díaz Pastor, President, MedCruise/ Commercial Director, Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife during the Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum 2019 taking place in Athens on May 28-29. MedCruise represents more than 130 ports in the eastern and western Mediterranean, the Adriatic and the Black Sea. Mr. Pastor added that 29% more ships will enter the cruise market from 2019 to 2027, and the capacity will grow by 65% in the region following the addition of 122 new cruise ships, 90% of which shall be constructed in Europe. During 2018, the highest cruise passenger traffic per country was recorded in Italy (33%) followed by Spain (28%), Greece (9.7%) and France (8%) in 2018. Regarding port visits, Italy ranked again first with 31% followed by Spain (24%), Greece (10%) and France (9%). In global distribution of cruise ships based on 2019 routes, Caribbean leads destinations with 34.4% while the Mediterranean Sea ranks second with 17.3% followed by North America, Asia, Australia and Alaska. The estimate for the Eastern Mediterranean cruise in 2019 is that passengers will see A rise of 22.2% in passengers and of 19.8% in port visits is expected across Eastern Mediterranean during 2019 compared to 2018 which saw 1,6 million passengers and 996 port visits in the area. The Mediterranean market is dominated by MSC Cruises, Costa Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean and AIDA, while in Eastern Mediterranean MSC Cruises, PULLMANTURE, TUI, MARELLA and P & O Cruises are the leading operators. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: pixabay.com Let's block ads! (Why?)