A reduction of 7,1% of passengers in Italian cruise ports, to 10,3 million, one million less than in 2016, mainly due to the lower number of cruise ships that will call at Mediterranean ports compared to 2016. These, in summary, are the updated forecasts of cruise traffic expected in Italy in 2017 (embarkation, disembarkation and transit) prepared by Risposte Turismo - a research and consultancy company at the service of the tourism macro-industry - and contained within the new "Cruise Special". , a publication dedicated to cruise tourism now in its seventh edition and available from tomorrow on the Risposte Turismo website.
These data, the result of information obtained from 46 cruise ports of call, representative of almost all passenger traffic (2016%) and ship calls (99,8%) in 97,4, confirm and extend the negative forecast for cruise traffic in our country announced last September in La Spezia on the occasion of the sixth edition of the Italian Cruise Day.
According to the new forecasts, at the end of the year the number of ports capable of handling more than one million passengers could drop from 4 to 3: Civitavecchia (2,2 million, -5,9%), Venice (1,4 million, -11,4%), -1%) and Naples (23,4 million, -XNUMX%).
"Eleven million passengers continues to be the number around which cruise traffic in Italy fluctuates, sometimes exceeding this threshold, sometimes falling below it" said Francesco di Cesare, President of Risposte Turismo. “There is a need for attention, investment and coordination to ensure that cruises in Italy continue to represent a sector that promises great results” concluded di Cesare.
In addition to the updated forecasts of cruise traffic in 2017 in Italian ports, the new edition of the "Speciale Crociere" produced by Risposte Turismo contains an analysis of the offer of berths on cruise ships by destination area.
According to the elaborations of Risposte Turismo, in 2017 the Mediterranean could record the lowest percentage share of the world total in the last 10 years, equal to 15,5%, compared to 18,3% in 2016 and 16,4% in 2007.
The forecasts for the current year, contained in a preview in the new edition of the research report, see the Caribbean in first place (35,6%), followed by the Mediterranean (15,5%) and non-Mediterranean Europe (11,5%). Among the world areas, the share of Asia (10,9%) stands out, ever closer to the podium despite being 10% 1,5 years ago, demonstrating the growth of the cruise market in this geographical area.
The report also contains a preview of the ranking of the top 10 Mediterranean ports by number of passengers handled in 2016.
Italy boasts 5 airports in the standings, with Civitavecchia in 2nd place (about 2,3 million behind Barcelona with about 2,7 million), Venice in 4th (about 1,6 million, behind Palma de Mallorca with about 1,63), Naples at 6th (about 1,3 million), Genoa at 8th (just over 1 million) and Savona at 9th (about 910 thousand).
