More than 5 million cruise passengers are expected at Greek ports this year, close to pre-pandemic levels.
“The forecast for this year is 5.06 million cruise passenger arrivals in Greek ports. A much improved number compared with last year, but about 500,000 down compared with the record year of 2019, when 5.55 million passengers arrived at Greek ports,” the director of Majestic Cruises and honorary president of the Union of Cruise Ship Owners and Shipping Agencies, Theodore Kontes, pointed out to “Naftemporiki”. Kontes did not rule out further improvement by the end of the year.
“Cruise, as expected, shows an improved picture compared to 2022, but we are still far from reaching the performance of 2019 (a record year) in terms of visitor numbers,” he said.
In relation to the pre-pandemic situation, a change has been observed in the profile of the fleet of cruise ships sailing in Greece.
Especially for 2022, Kontes pointed out that “we have noticed the change in the tonnage of ships with the increase in small/medium ships and a decrease in mega cruisers and more specifically, expedition, luxury ships, cruising ships and mega yachting plans.”
