Cruise Ship and Passenger Arrivals to Greece Rise in 2019

Cruise passenger traffic to Greece improved in 2019 against 2018 increasing by 15.64 percent, according to data released this week by the Hellenic Ports Association (ELIME).

More specifically, the number of cruise ship arrivals at 43 ELIME member ports across Greece increased in 2019 to 3,899 from 3,410 a year earlier, marking a 14.34 percent rise with passenger arrivals reaching 5,537,500 compared to 4,788,642 in 2018, recording a 15.64 percent rise.

For 2020, ELIME forecasts are positive, with pre-booking data indicating further improvement against 2019.

Piraeus port, Greece’s largest, is once again in the lead for the 10^th consecutive year, welcoming 410,512 cruise passenger arrivals in 2019 – a 15.83 percent rise – against 354,398 in 2018.

Piraeus welcomed 622 cruise liners in 2019 carrying 1,098,091 passengers compared to 524 and 961,632 travelers in 2018.

Top performing ports after Piraeus in 2019 were those of Santorini, Souda (Crete), Rhodes, Agios Nikolaos on Crete, and Kefalonia–Ithaki.

Santorini welcomed a total of 592 cruise ships with 980,771 passengers in 2019 against 474 in 2018 with 749,286 vacationers.

Mykonos followed with 550 ships and 784,490 passengers in 2019 versus 484 and 702,256 passengers, and Souda (Crete) welcomed 132 liners with 265,956 passengers in 2019 against 78 and 139,944 in 2018.