Barcelona Port receives 27,200 passengers in only one day with seven cruise ships

Barcelona (ACN).- Friday was the second busiest day for number of cruise ship passengers at the Port of Barcelona. Seven liners arrived  on Friday with a total of 27,200 passengers on board. Three of the ships are more than 300 metres long. Three of the seven ships do a “turnaround” (ending a trip and starting a new one) through Barcelona’s harbour: the Costa Serena, Carnival Magic, and MSC Splendida. The other four are only passing through: the Noordam, Aidavita, Thomson Dream and Independence of the Seas. According to the journey scheduled, the busiest day of the year will be August 20^th, when nine cruise ships with a total of 31,000 passengers will be stopping in the city. This data shows the importance of Barcelona Port on the world’s cruise ship map.

The industry is clearly led by the United States, and the State of Florida in particular, as the top three ranking ports are from there (Miami, Everglades and Canaveral). The fourth position belongs to the Port of Barcelona, being the top European port as well as the first in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the preferred origin and ending point, and a must-do stop within cruise trips in the Mediterranean Sea, before Palma de Mallorca, Naples, Civitavecchia (Rome), or Piraeus (Athens).

In 2010, 2,347,976 cruise passengers passed through Barcelona, a 9.06% increase compared to 2009. However, forecasts for 2011 foresee an increase that could reach 18% if the most optimistic predictions are met. More than 50 cruise liners operate through the Port of Barcelona and many of them use it for boarding and embarkment. Barcelona’s port authorities are fostering this trend by installing flight check-in facilities into the cruise terminals, which enable passengers to check in next to the ship and not at Barcelona El Prat Airport.

Cruise liners specialise in different market niches, depending on the client’s socioeconomic situation and nationality. 18% of cruise ship passengers going through Barcelona are British, 17% come from the United States, 17% are Spanish, 14% are Italian, 9% are German and 4% are French.