Greece is 3rd Leading Cruise Destination in the Mediterranean

Greece is in the Top 3 cruise tourism destinations in the Mediterranean, according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), welcoming 7 million passengers and 5,230 cruise ship port calls in 2023.

More specifically, according to data released by Hellenic Ports Association (ELIME), last year, Greek ports handled 7,003,150 passengers compared to 4,629,650 in 2022 and 5,230 cruise ship port calls up from 4,780.

Addressing the 28th edition of the Posidonia shipping exhibition held in Athens earlier this month, Maria Deligianni, CLIA regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, confirmed the news adding that although Greece was the third leading cruise destination in the Mediterranean, Greek travelers still are still not choosing this form of holiday. Of the 31.7 million passengers, Greeks accounted for 15,000, she said.

Maria Deligianni, CLIA regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

The world’s largest cruise market, representing 44.2 percent of all arrivals is the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Bermuda, followed by the Mediterranean with Italy, Spain, and Greece as top destinations.

She went on to underline the importance of channeling support into port infrastructure in order to meet the growing demand, adding that 94 percent of the world’s cruise ships are built in Europe supporting shipbuilding activity and thus contributing to the European economy. Indicative of the demand, Deligianni said that from 2024 to 2028, 56 new build cruise ships valued at 40 billion dollars will go towards the European economy.

Top source markets for the cruise travel segment are holidaymakers from the US and Europe and more specifically, Germany, the UK and Italy, followed by Australia and South America.

Photo source: Clia

Cruise travel is the fastest growing tourism segment worldwide, with 31.7 million passengers traveling on cruise ships in 2023, up by 7 percent over 2019.

The segment is set to grow by 9 percent this year compared to 2023 reaching 34.7 million passengers worldwide.

Greece is taking actions to tap into the growing cruise tourism potential. Earlier this year, Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said that establishing and promoting the country’s largest port Piraeus as a home port was a top priority as it would contribute significantly to the national economy.

The port of Piraeus broke all records in 2023 welcoming some 1.5 million cruise passengers compared to 880,000 in 2022.