The 32 cruise ports in the Adriatic this year will welcome a total of 4.5 million passenger movements (embarking, disembarking and transit). This is a rise of 29.3 percent compared to 2022, according to the latest Adriatic Sea Tourism Report.
Published by tourism research and consultancy company, Risposte Turismo, and released at the 6th Adriatic Sea Forum, the report also sees calls in the 32 cruise ports in the Adriatic increasing to 3,000 (+3.9 percent) this year.
At the end of the year, Corfu will be confirmed as the cruise port in the Adriatic with the highest number of passenger movements (615,000, up 16.8 percent compared to 2022). It is ahead of Venice (550,000, +127.3 percent), rising up the ranking with 243 cruise ship calls, without considering the traffic through Chioggia, and Dubrovnik (approx. 519,000, +37.6 percent). In fourth place is Bari (half a million passenger movements, +21.7 percent) and Kotor (440,000 passenger movements, +5.2 percent).
In 2023, Italy is the country that will top the cruise traffic rankings, with just over 2 million passenger movements (+35 percent). This accounts for 46.2 percent of the total, ahead of Croatia (approx. 1.1 million passenger movements, +33.1 percent) and Greece (624,000 passenger movements, +17.2 percent). Forecasts for the end of the year are also positive for the other nations looking onto the Adriatic. From Montenegro (479,000 passenger movements, +10.4 percent) to Slovenia (119,000 passenger movements, +59.3 percent) and Albania (25,000 passenger movements, +53.9 percent).
As regards cruise ship calls, at the end of 2023, Croatia will once again top the list of countries looking onto the Adriatic (1,140); ahead of Italy (863) and Montenegro (474).
Ferries: more than 19 million passenger movements by the end of 2023
Cruise traffic forecasts are based on the Risposte Turismo projection based on estimates of 18 cruise ports in the Adriatic area, which in 2022 together accounted for 98 percent of total passenger movements and 92 percent of calls.
Recovery will continue also with regard to passenger movements on ferries, hydrofoils and catamarans. According to the updated forecasts in the Adriatic Sea Tourism Report, by the end of 2023, the 13 main ports in the Adriatic will have recorded 19.3 million passenger movements (+7.9 percent) and over 79,000 calls (+9.9 percent).
Of the ports analyzed, forecasts are positive for Split, which maintains a strong grip on the top spot, with 5.2 million passenger movements (+8 percent). Igoumenitsa (2.6 million passenger movements, +7 percent) and Zadar (2.5 million passenger movements, +3 percent).
Also worth mentioning is the growth of the port of Korčula (over 1 million passenger movements, +5 percent).
At national level, and even without counting internal routes, at the end of the year, Croatia will top the ranking, with over 9.7 million passenger movements (+6.2 percent), ahead of Greece (4.8 million, +6.6 percent) and Italy (3.2 million, +14.5 percent).
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