Copenhagen close to new cruise record
PORTS: On the 21st of April, the first cruise ship of the year will arrive at Copenhagen Port and from then on, the cruise ship will call continuously with high frequency until the season ends in October. 332 cruise ships have already announced their arrival - which is a new record.
"I am very surprised. We had expected to see a small decline in the number of cruises in Copenhagen this year due to the financial crisis. But the growth in cruise business the past year seems to continue in 2009 - at least in northern Europe", says Ole Andersen, sales and marketing manager of Wonderful Copenhagen to business.dk
620,000 cruise guests are expected to visit Copenhagen in 2009. Of these, a great number will have Copenhagen as either start or final destination. This will ensure the city an extra turnover of close to ? 135 million, estimates Wonderful Copenhagen:
"A guest beginning or ending their cruise in Copenhagen uses values worth ? 214 per day - three times more than a passenger in transit for a day. This benefits the Copenhagen stores very much. Also the service business profits from the guests with deliveries to the ships and more travellers from Copenhagen Airport", says Ole Andersen to the newspaper.
On a global scale 14 new cruise ships will be employed in 2009 and further 38 new ships are on order. Half of the 38 new ships will sail in Europe - including Copenhagen. In total, northern Europe makes up 18 per cent of the combined cruise tourism.
Source: maritimedanmark.dk
