On the morning of February 21, the 283-meter-long “Bolette,” which sails under the flag of the Bahamas, sailed into the city port of Split, thus officially beginning the 2022 cruise ship season in Split. The cruise ship arrived carrying around 600 passengers and sailed to Split after the port of Valletta in Malta, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.
This is the first announcement of a good cruise ship season ahead.
“Yes, this is the first arrival this year. The ship is moored at an external berth. As far as I know, these are older travelers on classic cruises around the Mediterranean. They stay in the city until 5 pm, and until then, they have organized walking tours of the Palace. For this year, we have a total of 323 announcements of cruise ships, and we will see if all of them come true. It all depends, of course, on the pandemic, but the situation is still improving, and we are all optimistic. Guests on cruise ships have strict epidemiological measures and constant testing, as well as those before leaving the ports,” said Vicko Vrgoč, head of operations at the Split Port.
Vrgoč reminds us that the cruises suffered during the strongest wave of the pandemic. While the situation is slowly calming down, everyone knows that the pandemic can bring complications again.
“Of course, we wish for record years like 2016, when we recorded as many as 286 cruise ships entering the city port of Split. The next three cruisers for this year will arrive in mid-March, after which they will become more frequent, according to the announcements,” Vrgoč added.
Over 310,000 vessels arrived in Croatian seaports in 2021, 25% more than 2020. According to the national statistical office, there were 27.3 million passengers, up 45.4% on 2020 but down 23% on 2019.
Most of the passenger turnover was recorded from April through September, and it was highest in August and September, in keeping with the peak tourist season.
In Q4 2021, 60,000 vessels arrived in Croatian seaports (+9.5%), and there were 3.6 million passengers (+37%).
As for passenger turnover in Q4, it was highest in Split with 580,600 passengers (+42%), followed by Zadar with 366,000 (+21%) and Preko on Ugljan island with 326,000 (+18%). On the other hand, the highest passenger turnover increase in Q4 was recorded in Dubrovnik with just under 147,000 (+122.6%), followed by Rabac and Hvar, which saw increases of about 90%.
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