Swedish ports hosted 268 cruise ships and 619,000 passengers between April and October 2018
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Cruise traffic hit an all-time high at Sweden’s Ports of Stockholm in the 2018 season.
Between April and October, Ports of Stockholm hosted visits from 267 international cruise ships and 619,000 passengers at its cruise berths in located in Stockholm and Nynäshamn. The Port of Kapellskär also welcomed its first-ever cruise call when MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia arrived with 3,500 guests this September, bringing the total number of cruise ships to 268. This marks a rise from both 2016 and 2017 when the ports welcomed a total of 230 ships and 490,000 guests and 263 vessels and 600,000 passengers respectively.
“Stockholm is an extremely popular destination and passenger numbers are greater than ever before,” said Stefan Scheja, manager of Cruise and Ferry at Ports of Stockholm. “The majority of visitors are American and German, and the third largest group comes from the UK.”
While most ships only visited for the day, 67 of the 268 ships made turnaround calls, allowing passengers to start or end their cruises in Stockholm. Many stayed in the city pre- or post-cruise, generating revenue for the local economy.
“Cruise passengers are very important to the Stockholm region and generate a huge amount of revenue through restaurant visits, overnight hotel stays, shopping, museum visits and much more,” said Stefan Hansson, chair of the board at Port of Stockholm.