At this year's Cruise Shipping Miami, Network Cruise Baltic has released its Market Review 2015.
The survey, conducted amongst all the Cruise Baltic destinations (28) – including, for accuracy purposes, data from additional destinations St Petersburg, Kiel and Riga – reports on 2014 actual results and those anticipated for 2015.
The figures presented in the report are based on a collection of data from amongst ports in the Baltic Sea region as of December 2014.
From 2000 - 2014 figures:
- The number of passengers visiting the region has increased by an average annual rate of 10.3 percent - from 1.1 million in 2000 to nearly 4.3 million in 2014. (Arendal numbers not included)
- The number of calls increased by an average annual rate of 3.3 percent per year - from 1,533 in 2000, to 2,418 in 2014. (Arendal numbers not included)
- The number of turnarounds increased by an average annual rate of 7.6% per year - from 106 in 2000 to 416* in 2014. (*Kiel is not included in this average annual growth rate calculation)
The number of calls in 2014 decreased in all five of the top five ports. Tallinn decreased the most with -10.0 percent; then Copenhagen with -9.8 percent, Helsinki with -7.4 percent, St Petersburg by -6.0 percent and Stockholm with -5.4 percent.
In 2014 Copenhagen was once again the largest turnaround port with 129; Rostock was once again the only destination that experienced positive growth from 60 to 99 turnarounds, representing 65 percent. Malmo reported 10 turnarounds in 2014, as in 2013.
Looking ahead to 2015:
- Passengers to the region: A slight decrease in numbers is expected, approximately -1.6 percent.
- The number of calls: A decrease of -4.5 percent is anticipated, expecting 2,309 calls.
- The number of turnarounds: A decrease of -5.0 percent is expected in 2015, from 416 in 2014 to an estimated 395 in 2015.
- Top five ports – passenger expectations: For 2015 an overall decrease of -1.1 percent in total is anticipated.