Spanish ports are betting on the recovery of cruise tourism

• 810,340 cruise passengers passed through Spanish ports in the first quarter of the year.
• Ports will invest more than 343 million euros in facilities and equipment for passenger terminals by 2021-2025.
• The cruise industry in Spain generated more than 50,000 jobs, and its turnover amounted to almost 6,000 million euros in 2019.

April 22, 2022 (Public Body Puertos del Estado). Cruise tourism continues to be one of the main focuses of Spanish ports, once the most critical phase of the pandemic that has devastated the world for two years has concluded. This is evidenced by the more than 810,340 cruise passengers who have passed through one of the 46 general interest Puertos del Estado. Despite having increased by 643% compared to 2021, the number of cruise passengers in 2022 is 65% lower than the figures for 2019, a year in which 1.8 million passengers were counted.

The peak of cruise traffic through Spanish ports occurred in 2019, when more than 10.6 million cruise passengers and 4,236 cruise ships passed through the facilities of some of the 28 Spanish Authorities. With annual growth close to 5%, cruise traffic and passengers went from 4 million passengers in 2005 to 7.2 million in 2010, 8.6 million in 2015, reaching its historical maximum in 2019.

The year 2020 started relatively normally, with very similar figures for the first two months (1.3 million passengers), but restrictions on passenger movement imposed in March led to a collapse that lasted until the end of the year. In fact, in the following ten months, barely 80 thousand passengers were counted, closing the year with 1.37 million cruise passengers and a decrease of 87% compared to 2019 data. The year 2021 began with the same negative sign, with the fall in passenger traffic increasing to 95%. It would not be until the second half of the year, when passenger restrictions were lifted, that cruise arrivals began to reactivate, managing to close the year with 843 thousand passengers and 2,100 ships that called at least once at 90% of the Port Authorities.

The pandemic years have allowed the sector to put new management methods into practice, focusing on safety and innovation to ensure that the expected return occurred with the highest health guarantees. Hygienic measures were intensified, both in terminals and on ships, and limited calls to the Canary Islands began, with occupancy reduced to less than half of the ship's capacity, and controlled departures and visits through the creation of "bubble groups" that minimized the risk of contagion.

445 MILLION EUROS INVESTED AND PLANNED IN THE PERIOD 2019-2025

Public investment in facilities and equipment planned for passenger terminals amounts to 343.2 million euros in the period 2021-2025, highlighting investments that will be made in the Balearic Islands (172.9 million euros), Bay of Algeciras (42 million euros), Las Palmas (24.5 million euros), Ceuta (22.7 million euros), Valencia (19.4 million euros), Melilla (13.8 million euros), or Tarragona (11.5 million euros).

These investments, together with those made in 2019 and 2020, more than 101.8 million euros, will total 445 million euros.

PUERTOS DEL ESTADO: A 418 M2 STAND WILL BRING TOGETHER THE OFFER OF 20 SPANISH PORT AUTHORITIES

As has been customary in recent years, the Public Body Puertos del Estado will bring together in the Puertos del Estado stand, covering 418 m2, the Spanish offer at the Seatrade Cruise Global to be held in the US city of Miami between April 25 and 28. Port Authorities of A Coruña, Alicante, Almería, Bay of Algeciras, Bay of Cádiz, Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cartagena, Ceuta, Ferrol, Huelva, Málaga, Melilla, Motril, Santander, Seville, Tarragona, Valencia, and Vigo will be present. In addition, the Port Authorities of Las Palmas and S.C. de Tenerife will also be present at the Cruises Atlantic Island stand, along with a large group of local institutions and service companies.

CLIA PREDICTS THE COMPLETE RECOVERY OF THE SECTOR

Cruise companies expect to deploy in Spain throughout 2022 a capacity that could reach levels almost similar to those before the pandemic, according to data handled by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

Globally, it is expected that nearly 100% of the ships that make up CLIA's fleet will be in service this coming August, with 2022 being a "vital year for the recovery of pre-pandemic passenger volume (more than 29 million) in 2023."

Regarding Spain's data before the pandemic, in 2019, more than 550,000 Spaniards chose a cruise as a vacation option, a figure that places Spain as the fourth emitting market in Europe.

The cruise industry in Spain generated more than 50,000 jobs that year, and its turnover amounted to almost 6,000 million euros, according to estimates by CLIA.

The association has pointed out that for every 24 cruise passengers, the equivalent of a full-time job is created, and on average, each passenger spends 660 euros in the destinations visited during a seven-day cruise.