An association of port authorities in Greece on Tuesday announced a significant increase in the number of cruise ship arrivals in 2019, compared with 2018, with 3,899 arrivals recorded at 43 ports - up 14.34 percent compared to the previous year.
The number of passengers that arrived or boarded cruise ships in Greece in 2019 above 5.537 million, up from 4.788 million in 2018, an increase exceeding 15.6 percent.
As expected, the port of Piraeus, which services the greater Athens area, was again in first place, the 10th year in a row. Piraeus significantly increased its cruise sector numbers in 2019, with passenger traffic up by 15.83 percent.
Specifically, 622 cruise ships docked in Piraeus in 2019, carrying more than 1.098 million passengers, compared to 524 cruise ships in 2018 and 961,000 passengers in 2018.
The emblematic island of Santorini was second, with 592 cruise ships carrying more than 980,000 passengers; up from 474 vessels and nearly 750,000 passengers in 2018.