Cruise industry in Italy - statistics & facts

Italy plays a leading role within the European cruise market, thanks to its strategic location in the Mediterranean Sea and its numerous ports along the Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, and Ionian coasts. When breaking down the number of cruise passenger movements in the Mediterranean by country, Italy reported the highest figure in 2022, ahead of Spain and France, recording around 8.5 million passengers embarking and disembarking at its ports. Meanwhile, when looking at the number of cruise passengers sourced from Europe, Italy ranked third, after Germany and the United Kingdom & Ireland, with just under 800 thousand passengers. While this figure denoted a rebound after the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the volume of passengers did not catch up with pre-pandemic levels. As the number of cruise passengers started to recover in 2022, so did the revenue of the cruise market in Italy, amounting to more than 450 million U.S. dollars.

What are the travel preferences of Italian cruise passengers?

Figures on the age of cruise passengers sourced from Italy show that travelers aged 40 years and older accounted for over half of cruise guests in 2022. By contrast, travelers aged 13 to 19 represented the lowest number of Italian cruise passengers that year. In terms of the length of cruise trips for Italian cruise guests, most travelers took one-week holidays in 2022, with more than 650 thousand passengers choosing this kind of vacation. On the other hand, just around four thousand cruise guests went on a trip lasting 15 to 20 days. When considering the leading destinations for Italian cruise travelers, the Central and Western Mediterranean emerged as the most visited regions, experiencing a significant increase in cruise passengers compared to the first two years of the health crisis. While the number of Italian cruise guests visiting the Eastern Mediterranean also grew over the previous year, it did not surpass pre-pandemic levels.

What are the leading cruise ports in Italy?

In 2022, Civitavecchia, a municipality in the metropolitan city of Rome, stood out as Italy's leading cruise port both by number of calls (783 in total) and by the number of passenger movements (approximately 2.2 million), followed by Naples and Genoa. Meanwhile, Liguria was the Italian region with the highest number of cruise passenger movements in 2022, ahead of Lazio, where Civitavecchia is based. Overall, while the number of cruise calls at ports in Italy bounced back in 2022, reaching roughly 4.9 thousand, it remained slightly below the figure reported in 2019.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Jan 10, 2024

Key insights

Revenue of the cruise market in Italy
456m USD
Number of cruise passengers sourced from Italy
791k
Annual growth rate of the number of cruise passengers sourced from Italy
133%
Get more insights

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Number of cruise passengers at selected Mediterranean ports from 2019 to 2022 (in 1,000s)

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Cruise passenger movements at selected Mediterranean ports 2019-2022

Leading cruise ports in Italy in 2014 and 2023, by number of port calls

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Leading cruise ports in Italy 2014-2023, by port calls

Number of cruise passenger movements at the port of Civitavecchia in Italy from 2016 to 2022

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Cruise passenger movements at the port of Civitavecchia in Italy 2016-2022

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Leading cruise ports

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Cruise industry worldwide
Cruise industry worldwide
Cruise industry in Europe
Cruise industry in Europe
Travel and tourism in Italy
Travel and tourism in Italy
Cruise industry in the United Kingdom (UK)
Cruise industry in the United Kingdom (UK)
Cruise industry in the United States
Cruise industry in the United States

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