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Port Everglades celebrates four million passenger mark

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 13 November 2014 13 November 2014

Passenger moves at Port Everglades topped 4 million in FY2014, with a record number 3.88 million multi-day moves and 121,321 daily moves, according to preliminary fiscal year 2014 statistics. Port officials attribute the increase to more cruise ships sailing during the summer and the cruise lines offering more 4- and 5-night sailing itineraries.

“Port Everglades celebrated a record fiscal year with $153 million in revenue, one-million TEUs and 4-million passenger moves,” said Port Everglades Chief Executive and Port Director Steven Cernak. “These are terrific milestones. The key now is to continue moving forward with our infrastructure plans since we know that ships are only getting larger and facility needs are greater.”

The South Florida cruise port, consistently ranked among the top three in the world, also bested the 4 million mark in 2004 with 4,075,406 passengers, but with fewer multi-day passengers at 2,675,296. In 2004, several ships were diverted to Port Everglades from other ports that suffered hurricane damages.

The Port’s 20-Year Master/Vision Plan estimates that Port Everglades will reach 5.6 million cruise passenger moves by the year 2033. The cruise industry at Port Everglades accounts for more than 5,000 direct jobs and nearly $1.7 billion in annual economic activity.

Eight cruise lines, one ferry and more than 40 cruise ships sail from the South Florida seaport including: Balearia’s Bahamas Express, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Seabourn and Silversea Cruises. The Port's wide-ranging fleet of cruise ships provides guests with an array of cruise vacation choices from the sunny Greater Fort Lauderdale area, including the cities of Hollywood and Dania Beach. Port Everglades, where the best cruise ships launch and the greatest getaways begin.

Enric Noguer takes charge of Intercruises North America & Caribbean

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 11 November 2014 11 November 2014

Intercruises Shoreside & Port Services, an experienced global business offering ground handling and port agency services to the ocean and river cruise industry, has announced the appointment of Enric Noguer as President North America & Caribbean, with Celeste Gladstone, VP Client Relationships resuming her international role with Intercruises.

Enric will work alongside Celeste during a transition period until February 2015, at which time he will assume responsibility for the combined operations of all Intercruises businesses across North America, East and West coast, as well as the Caribbean. In her international role, Celeste will continue to support Intercruises’ industry partners and the North America & Caribbean team, but will now focus on business development at a global level, working closely with the Intercruises Board of Directors.

“Sixteen months ago Celeste took additional responsibilities for the North America & Caribbean region and I personally thank her for successfully leading the team during this period. I now look forward to working with Celeste at an international level, in which her valuable industry experience will benefit the entire Intercruises business. Celeste will impart some of her knowledge while working with Enric, an experienced travel industry professional that will guide Intercruises North America & Caribbean to a successful future.” Said Mark Robinson, Intercruises Managing Director.

Enric recently held the role of Regional Managing Director The Americas for Hotelbeds, part of TUI Travel PLC, where he was responsible for online distribution and developing the regional strategy. He also held senior management positions in the hotel sector and in destination services at TUI, where he developed extensive knowledge of inbound operations and the online world.

Xiamen doubles cruise tourist number this season

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 07 November 2014 07 November 2014

Xiamen International Cruise Terminal in China has just closed its current cruise season with a doubled number of arrivals. Alan Lam reports.

As another clear sign of the booming cruise business in the region, China’s southern cruise port, the only significant international cruise passenger facility in the cruise tourism pilot province of Fujian, has reported a doubling of its cruise passenger arrival numbers to the city, reaching 50,000, with 21 ship calls.

The port authority is delighted with the result and vowed to continue its effort in further increasing the number for the coming years. It is likely that this momentum will be at least maintained, possibly increased, next year, as it has secured the largest service contract in its brief history - the terminal will provide a 40-day homeport service to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL ) during the 2015 season.

Proportionately, Xiamen is one of the better performing international cruise facilities in China besides those in Shanghai and Tianjin. The terminal also hosts ferry services to and from Taiwan.

China to build yet another cruise homeport

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 06 November 2014 06 November 2014

In a bid to attract more cruise tourism, the Chinese island province of Hainan is planning to build a new cruise homeport in Haikou, the provincial capital city on the north coast of the island. Alan Lam reports.

As a part of the regional cruise Golden Triangle, Hainan was recently named by the Chinese government as one of its four cruise pilot areas.It is not clear whether or not this move is directly connected to its new status.

The island already has a cruise terminal in its southern resort city of Sanya. The new facility will be located within Haikou’s Xiuying Port, which will also be developed into a yacht base, away from the cargo handling port of Macun.

The need of a second terminal on this island is under critical public scrutiny. There is a credible doubt that Haikou will attract enough cruise traffic to warrant such a separate development, although the island’s popularity as a holiday destination has been growing among Chinese and international tourists.

According to the local authority, Haikou is on course to attract 1.03 million overnight visitors in 2014, an increase of 9% on 2013.

Uninspiring set of cruise figures from Spain

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 05 November 2014 05 November 2014

According to figures just released by Spanish Port Authority, Puertos del Estado, in the first nine months of 2014 Spain received almost the same number of cruise tourists as that of the same period last year, while the number of cruise calls had fallen. Alan Lam reports.

Over 5.3 million cruise passengers passed through Spanish ports between January and September, representing an insignificant 0.02% increase, while the total number of cruise calls for this period was 2,539, a fall of 2.38%.

With a slight decrease of 0.3%, September was the sixth consecutive month of decline in cruise passenger numbers sustained by the country: there was a 1.4% drop in August, 14.5% in July, 6.5% in June and 3.8% in April; the biggest fall was in May when the deficit was 16%, compared to May 2013.

Barcelona, the busiest cruise port of the country, experienced a 10% fall in ship calls and 9.21% fall in passenger number. Valencia was the biggest casualty, registering a 22.6% drop in passenger number and 13.9% reduction in ship calls. Vigo experienced a 10% decreasein passenger number and 13.4% drop in calls.

There were, however, areas of significant growth: in the Canary Islands, cruise passenger number for Las Palma, for example, was up by 49%, with 19% more cruise calls; the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife received 4.3% more cruise passengers than in the same period last year. The Andalucian port of Motril registered a 29.8%increase in passenger number and 11% more cruise calls.

Despite these uninspiring numbers, the authorities are still confident that Spain is on course to break the record annual cruise passenger number of 8 million, set in 2011. A lot depends on the last three months of the year.

These figures suggest a serious underlining lack of dynamismin the sector in Spain. This could be due to the fundamental issue in the wider economy. At best, these erratic numbers reflect a changing pattern of cruise business flow.