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Date Published: 31/08/2022

Cartagena cruises towards record autumn for seafaring passengers welcoming 90,000 visitors

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A daily average of 1,000 cruise passengers will arrive in the Region of Murcia port between September and November

Cartagena cruises towards record autumn for seafaring passengers welcoming 90,000 visitors

Cartagena is bracing itself for the best autumn in terms of cruise ship stopovers in its history, with the port city set to welcome 90,000 seafaring visitors between September and November.

On average, 1,000 people are expected to descend on the city over the three-month period, according to Cartagena Mayor, Noelia Arroyo, who visited the port on Wednesday August 31 to see first-hand the progress being made on a port renovation project in Plaza Mayor "which is going to open at a historic moment for the port and cruise tourism".

Seventy-five cruise liners will stop off in Cartagena this autumn – 12 more than in 2019.

"This will be the best year yet for cruise arrivals in Cartagena, with figures of 89,000 cruise passengers and 62 stopovers in this period," said Arroyo.

"This follows a good month of August with 80% hotel occupancy in the city; 90% on the coast, and recovering 80% of visits to museums in the best year, which was also 2019," she added.

Specifically, September will see 13 stopovers and 19,000 passengers; October will have 36 stopovers and 32,000 passengers; and November will record 26 stopovers.

"With these figures, October is shaping up as the best month in terms of the number of stopovers, and November will be the most outstanding month in terms of the number of passengers, with over 40,000, as well as three double stopovers and two triple stopovers," explained the mayor.

Cartagena Port will once again welcome the cruise ship Wonder of the Seas, owned by the Royal Caribbean company, considered to be the largest cruise ship in the world.

"Of the 40,000 passengers, 6,000 will arrive on this ship, benefitting our shops, hotels and museums. The autumn season is considered the high season for cruise tourism, mainly due to the warm temperatures offered by Cartagena and the wide range of tourist and cultural offerings of various kinds that we offer," said Arroyo.

The first phase of the port seafront renovation will be completed in mid-September, a project that aims to integrate the port with the city, and will offer a cultural and leisure programme throughout the year.

The area will also have new restaurants which will open on September 8, as well as a new gastromarket which will be located in the former headquarters of the Cartagena Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to repaving, overhead wiring has been buried and work has been carried out on the sewage networks.

"The new design of Plaza Mayor allows for the expansion of pedestrian spaces, while guaranteeing the fluidity of road traffic, in line with the municipal mobility plan, the Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," explained Mayor Arroyo.

Also of interest: Researchers from Cartagena University patent smart traffic system to reduce waiting times at red lights

Images: Ayuntamiento de Cartagena

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