Italy expects a record number of cruise tourists

By the end of 2023, 13,098,000 passengers will be handled in Italian ports, with 168 ships representing 52 shipping companies, giving cruise tourism +39.1% growth compared to 2022 and +11% compared to 2019, the last pre-pandemic season. Based on Cemar data, port Civitavecchia receives the bulk of the cruise tourism, with 2.85 million passengers, followed by Genoa with 1.45 million passengers and Naples with 1.40 million passengers. The top 10 are followed by Savona, La Spezia, Palermo, Messina, Livorno, Venice, and Trieste.

Liguria takes the lead in the number of cruise tourists with 3.3 million, followed by Lazio with 2.9 million and Campania with 1.6 million. Sicily ranks fourth with 1.5 million. Notably, the percentage of couples and families has decreased from 54% to 45% and 39% to 33%, respectively. However, single cruise passengers have increased, from 7% to 22%.

Based on the latest data, the busiest months for ship docking in Italian ports are October (725 calls), September (639 calls), May (636 calls), and August (625 calls). The busiest day ever recorded was October 14, 2023, with 32 ships docking and 70,000 cruise passengers handled daily. Among the top cruise brands expected to handle up to 4 million passengers in Italian ports in 2023, MSC is the leader, followed by Costa with 2.4 million passengers, Royal Caribbean with 1.2 million, Norwegian Cruise Line with 1.1 million, and Celebrity Cruises with 0.8 million.