The FITUR slogan is ‘Blue carpet: Alfombra azul’./ Photo: Fomento
The Diplomat. 24/01/2016
The number of cruise passengers visiting Spanish ports has increased by 10,36% in the first eleven months of the year which means that 2015 could finally close with more than 8,4 million cruise passengers, reaching a new historic maximum.
After exceeding 7,8 million cruise passengers in November, the Ministry of Development is forecasting that 2105 will reach a new historic record. Alicante Port is the most outstanding location at a national level, on account of the “vertiginous” growth it has experienced this year, at 128%. And the Canary Islands ports, which received 1,8 million cruise ship passengers, were very much above the national average.
Although more moderate in respect of the number of cruise ships, there has been a rise of 4%, reaching a total of 3.570. In this respect the busiest ports were in the Balearic Islands which, according to the Ministry of Development, have benefited from “numerous cruises that should have put into ports along the coast of Africa being diverted to Mediterranean ports instead”.
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Spanish ports make an important contribution to tourism
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Backed by these figures, Spanish ports have been presented at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) in Madrid as an “alternative way to get to know Spain”. With the slogan Blue carpet: Alfombra azul, the Ministry of Development is presenting the ports with their “modern facilities, as competitive and located along the routes of the main tourist destinations”, well prepared to “receive cruise ship traffic with the highest standards of quality, security and services, and from which visitors can get to know “the entire Spanish geography”.
In addition to their contribution to tourism, the Ministry of Development points out the importance of the cruise sector in the creation of employment. According to to the figures of the 2013 report by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), entitled Contribution of Cruise Tourism to the economies of Europe, extrapolated to the Spanish situation, this sector is worth some 1.255 million euros, generating more than 26.000 jobs.
