Hamburg’s cruise season 2011 began with a visit from »Aida Cara« and ended in December when the »Amadea« and »Albatros[ds_preview]« simultaneously called at the port. In addition to three ship christenings, seven maiden calls, a record month in May 2011 with 36 calls and the Hamburg Port Anniversary that included seven cruise ships, a highlight was the opening of the Cruise Center Altona. By the end of the season, the Hamburg Cruise Center (HCC) had processed 314,500 passengers, an increase of 28 % in comparison to the previous year (2010: 246,000 passengers). The cruise port of Hamburg was visited 118 times by cruise ships, an increase of 13.5 %. A total of 87.5 % of turnaround passengers started and/or ended their cruise in Hamburg. Aida Cruises alone stationed three of its ships (»Aida Cara«, »Aida Luna« and »Aida Blu«) in Hamburg for the 2011 season, all of which set sail from the city on a regular basis. The number of transit visitors rose considerably in 2011 to more than 39,100 in total, a healthy fivefold increase against the previous year’s figure (2010: 7,201). A significant change in percentage figures regarding passenger origins was also evident. While 91 % of passengers came from Germany in 2010, this figure decreased to 73 % in the 2011 season. Overall, passengers from 107 different countries were counted. A broad range of nationalities for example sailed on board the »Costa Magica«, including Italian (5.7 %), French (3.6 %) and Spanish (2 %) passengers. The USA and Austria both provided 1.8 % of the passengers, followed by the Netherlands, which accounted for 1.5 %.
In terms of route distribution, the following percentages were recorded for 2011: 40 % of departures headed for Norway, 21 % of the routes led down the Atlantic along Europe’s west coast, 13.5 % went through the Baltic, 12 % to England, Scotland and Ireland, 9 % headed to North Cape and 4.5 % across the Atlantic. »For 2012 we are expecting 164 cruise calls during the 2012 season (150 turnarounds and 14 transit calls), an increase of 39 % against last year’s figure«, stressed
Dr. Stefan Behn, Chairman of HCC.
