MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Late bookings are making Gibraltar cruise season unexpected success

In August cruise visitors to the Rock increased 36% over a year ago

The cruise sector in Europe seems to have shrugged off the economic crisis and Gibraltar, in common with many key Mediterranean passenger ports, is reaping the benefit, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

The evidence was clear to see Tuesday morning on Gibraltar’s Main Street, which was teeming with hundreds of passengers off the P&O Ventura. This has been the pattern for much of the summer.

Despite a slow start to the season, port data shows that Gibraltar had handled 193,000 passengers by the end of August, a slight increase on year-end figures for 2008. In August alone, some 58,000 passengers disembarked on the Rock, a 36% increase over the volume of passengers for the same month last year. The data also shows that vessels are getting larger and the number of visits is rising.

“Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the market is up,” said Peter Hall, the Captain of the Port of Gibraltar.

Industry executives say there has been a shift in the demand curve for cruises. In the past, passengers used to book six to nine months in advance, whereas now they are booking just a few weeks ahead.

The effect has been to force cruise lines to lower their prices in order to attract more business. Where once cruising was the preserve of the wealthy, now it is accessible to most and offer incredible value. This is a fluid situation and, while numbers are up this year, there is no certainty that the trend will hold moving ahead.

“The passenger operators are being very fluid in their management,” Capt Hall said. “They are just seeing where the demand is”. Even so, there are positive signs that the rise will continue.

The UK-based Passenger Shipping Association said that about 1.5 million people in Britain took to cruises in 2008, making it the second largest market. Many of the passengers arriving in Gibraltar are British. And despite the economic downturn, these same kinds of figures are being seen in 2009 and are expected again in 2010.