Fernando Pacheco (MSC Cruises' general director) reaffirmed the company's commitment to Alicante (Spain) as its main homeport and announced that it will continue its operations there in 2024 and 2025.
Pacheco has assured that the same number of boarding and disembarking operations, ~30, will be maintained in Alicante in 2024. However, he has also expressed openness to expanding operations if necessary.
Furthermore, Pacheco mentioned that within a month, the cruise schedule for 2025 will be presented, which will also include a similar number of operations with Alicante as homeport.
In addition to this, MSC has announced a special departure from Alicante to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, scheduled for November 4th. The return trip will be by air.
Alicante was chosen as the base port for MSC in 2022, and due to positive results, the company has doubled its operations for this year. This commitment has significantly boosted cruise tourism prospects for 2023, with a record-breaking 87 stopovers expected to bring nearly 200,000 cruisers to Alicante.
Cruise ships are similar to floating hotels and typically have a full hospitality staff in addition to the regular crew. It is not uncommon for luxury ships to have more crew and staff members than passengers.
As of December 2021, there were 323 cruise ships worldwide, with a total capacity of 581,200 passengers.
Cruising has become a significant component of the tourism industry, generating an estimated market value of $29.4 billion annually. In 2011, there were 19+ million passengers carried worldwide.
From 2001 until the COVID crisis in 2020, the industry experienced rapid growth, with nine or more newbuild ships catering to North American and European source markets being added each year.