Positive signs are arriving from the world of cruises which, after the crisis caused by the pandemic, returns to grind high numbers of passengers in Europe, even if the goal of recovering the amount of customers in 2019, the year before Covid, can be reached in 2023 in Italy but hardly before 2024 in the Euromed area.
Furthermore, a general slowdown in orders for new cruise ships is looming on the horizon, compared to the boom of previous years. As for passengers, the numbers come from the report commissioned to Risposte Turismo by Clia, the Cruise lines international association, which held its European summit in Genoa. A meeting during which the theme of sustainability had great prominence.
In 2023, 48.6 million cruise passengers are expected
Cruise passenger traffic expected in Europe in 2022 amounts to 38 million passengers, marking a + 299% compared to 2021 but still -27% on 2019. In 2023, however, the number of passengers should grow again to 48.6 million .
A figure that, says Francesco di Cesare, at the helm of Risposte Turismo, “will still represent about -10% compared to 2019. If the difficult conditions present in Europe (also due to the war in Ukraine, ndr) should change in the coming months, I would not be surprised to see, already in 2023, a figure equal to or greater than 2019 (53.3 million, ndr). If this does not happen, however, 2024 will be the year in which prepandemic passenger numbers are reached. In Italy, however, “the conditions could exist in 2023, where we estimate a possible passenger movement of 12.7 million, higher than in 2019 (12.3 million, ndr)».
78 ships are in delivery
For his part, Pierfrancesco Vago, global chairman di Clia (as well as executive president of MSC Cruises), recalled that the cruise fleet is growing fast. “We await the delivery of 78 ships between 2022 and 2027. 93% of these will be built in Europe, thanks to an overall investment by the companies of 47 billion euros, which will have an economic impact greater than 200 billion on the continental economy “.