Alicante predicts 2022 'boom' for cruise ship arrivals on Spain's Costa Blanca

ALICANTE City Council says that cruise ship passengers visiting the area will more than quadruple in 2022.

The authority also predicts that tourists spending time in the city will spend €12 million next year, as opposed to over €2.5 million during 2021.

Alicante’s Tourism councillor, Mari Carmen Sanchez said: “The forecasts for next year are magnificent and this years figures have been good considering all the caution generated by the pandemic.”

Cruise ships could only stop at Alicante since June, with 43,466 passengers embarking to visit the city.

Up to 180,000 passengers on 80 ships are expected in 2022.

The city will also benefit from MSC Cruises using the port as a starting point for cruises.

A new MSC itinerary will take in the Western Mediterranean with 12 journeys departing from Alicante between June and October, with up to 2,550 passengers boarding each time.

The Alicante Association for Cruise Tourism says that each cruise passenger who makes a stopover spends between €50 to €60 per day.

That figure doubles for trips that use Alicante as a base port as passengers book an overnight hotel stay ahead of embarking on their cruise.

“The impact that cruise passengers generate in the city is very important and benefits both the restaurants and local businesses as well as the tourism sector that organises excursions and hotels when Alicante is a base port,” said Mari Carmen Sanchez.

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