Cruises stage pre-pandemic level “come-back”

Cruises to Chania in June and July were on a steady course as 29 ships arrived with Souda as the main port of call, while 4 ships also called off the Venetian Port of Chania.

In Souda, 14 ships sailed in June and 16 in July.

Through these arrivals 47,043 passengers arrived in the city, of which 23,903 in June and 23,500 in July.

One day visitors

One-day visitors are an important part that adds to the tourist traffic of the area since the vast majority of them choose the city of Chania and places of tourist interest and travel either via the City Bus or by tourist buses, while a significant number choose to travel by TAXI.

Optimistic messages

For the month of August, 12 cruise ship arrivals are scheduled to arrive at Chania. While there will also be 18 arrivals in September, 18 in October, 11 in November, and 5 in December.

As Dimitris Virirakis, the president of the Port Fund of the prefecture of Chania, stated to state news agency APE-MPE, “there is a very positive picture for the cruise in 2022. The capacity of the ships is maximized and larger cruise ships dock at the port of Souda this year. At the same time, the indications and the first information for 2023 are very auspicious”.

Cruise come-back

From the figures for the months of June and July so far, it seems that the cruise industry is “rebounding”, with the dynamics of the pre-pandemic period.

It is typical that according to the data of the Hellenic Ports Association, in total Chania recorded 76 arrivals with 45,619 passengers, in 2021, while  in 2020 there were only 10 arrivals with 105 passengers. In the record year of 2019, 132 arrivals with 265,956 passengers were recorded.

In 2018, 78 ships with 139,944 passengers arrived in Souda, in 2017 the number of ships was 84 and the passengers 128,067.

In 2016, 86 ships arrived with 147,915 passengers and in 2015, arrivals were 59 and passengers 96,612.