In spite of the prevailing economic crisis, Spain’s cruise tourism sector is experiencing a renaissance. It is expected that by the end of 2014, according to CLIA forecast, the country will have received 7.7 million of cruise tourists, nearly 1.5 million higher than that of 2013. Alan Lam reports.
Figures published by the Ministry of Industry showed that, of 63 million leisure visitors to Spain last year, 5.3 million of them arrived on cruise ships. This year, it is estimated that one out of every ten visitors to Spain will be a cruise tourist.
As the second most important cruise destination in Europe, after Italy, Spanish ports - such as Valencia, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Vigo – continue to attract cruise ships in large numbers. Recently, ports like Vigo and Bilbao have made a lot of headways in cruise tourism; mega cruise liners like Oasis of the Seas and Norwegian Epic have both called at Vigo, which is also expecting to welcome Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas in the coming months. With 171,800 cruise passengers last year, Vigo has joined the list of elite Spanish cruise ports that include the likes of Barcelona and Málaga, putting the northern part of Spain firmly on the cruise map.
Spain’s domestic source market is also showing a strong sign. Pullmantur, which caters almost exclusively for Spanish tourists, has reported close to 100% cabin occupation until November.
