2013: Hamburg, Germany?s first cruise port with over 500 000 passengers. Further growth forecast for 2014 ? 200thship mark in sight.
For the first time ever the magical 500 000 passenger mark has been achieved in a single season
Hamburg.??The visit by the ?Queen Mary 2? to Hamburg on 6November 2013 will go down in the annals of Hamburg?s cruise industry and become an unforgettable ship?s call for everyone concerned,? said?Frank Horch, Senator of the Ministry for Economic, Transport and Innovation Affairs. The visit was not only the 168th?call of the current season but also marked the arrival of the 500 000th?cruise guest in the city. ?For the first time ever Hamburg has achieved this magical mark in a single season and, moreover, done so two years earlier than planned,? announced the visibly proud senator.
Ivar Hammerbeck (37) from Rendsburg was?Hamburg?s 500 001st?cruise guest?of the 2013 season and was presented with a Hamburg package by the senator to mark the occasion. In cooperation with the HCC?s members Hammerbeck will be able to visit the city again in the near future, receiving a voucher for a two-night stay for two people in a Superior Suite at the Hotel Atlantic Kempinski Hamburg including breakfast. To round off the short break in the city the package also included a Hamburg Card; entrance tickets for the Hamburg Dungeon, Prototyp car museum, Chocoversum by Hachez and Miniature Wonderland attractions plus a gift set and vouchers for the Hard Rock Cafe Hamburg. In addition to this?Anja Tabarelli, Director Sales and Marketing Cunard Line in Germany and Austria,?also gave Hammerbeck a large surprise package from Cunard.
The first cruise passenger and the 500 001st?guest of Hamburg?s 2013 cruise season were both sailing on board a Cunard ship to and from Hamburg. This highlights the close connection between Hamburg and the Cunard line and, in particular, the ?Queen Mary 2?. The latter relationship dates back to 2004 and was the trigger for the cruise boom in the city. ?We are looking forward to being able to celebrate this very special relationship in the coming year, which marks our 10thanniversary,? said?Dr. Stefan Behn, Chairman of the Board of Hamburg Cruise Center e.V. (abbreviated as HCC).
Hamburg wishes ?Merry Christmas cruising?
?This year the cruise season, which has been Hamburg?s most successful ever, will again be ending in December,? announced Dr. Behn. Two cruise liners with some 3 000 predominantly British passengers will be calling at Hamburg in the run up to Christmas. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has two ships scheduled to visit Hamburg in December ? the ?Balmoral? will be in the city on 18 December; her sister ship, the ?Boudicca?, will be tying up in the HafenCity for New Year?s Eve. In addition to this the ?AIDAsol?, Hamburg?s most frequent visitor in 2013, will be calling at the port six times and British cruise line Saga Cruises will be offering a mystery cruise.
The 2013 season ?the longest Hamburg cruise year to date
This year the Hamburg cruise season will, for the first time, be ending on 31 December. ?Initial estimates by the association forecast some 555 000 passengers by the end of the season,? said?Gerd Drossel, HCC Managing Director. This represents 29 per cent growth over the previous year (2012: 430 329). In total 177 cruise ships called at the Port of Hamburg (+ 10 per cent over the previous year). 167 of the calls were by ships beginning or ending their cruises, including 32 calls during which there was a partial turn-around, ten were transit calls. The percentage of turn-around guests beginning or ending their cruise in Hamburg increased to 94 per cent (2012: 89 per cent). ?According to these figures Hamburg was Germany?s most frequented embarkation or disembarkation port in 2013, once again topping the German cruise port rankings, as was already the case in 2012,? stated Drossel.
?An increasing number of cruise lines are carrying out so-called partial turn-arounds (both passenger turn-arounds and also transit calls). Partial turn-arounds, in Hamburg?s case primarily carried out by international cruise lines, boost the local source market while also offering passengers a greater choice of embarkation ports,? elaborated Drossel.
In the case of partial turn-arounds two-thirds of the passengers boarding ships were German. The proportion of German cruise guests going on a cruise to/from Hamburg in 2013 thus totalled 80.1 per cent (2012: 69.5 per cent). This illustrates the increasing focus of international players on the German market. The origins of the remaining passengers were very diverse, covering a total of just under 125 countries. In second place, at 5 per cent, were British passengers, followed by Americans (2.1 per cent) and Austrians (2 per cent). Swiss nationals accounted for 1.85 per cent of passengers. 1 per cent came from Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands respectively.
In conjunction with the HCC Hamburg Chamber of Commerce has presented a revised evaluation of the value created in Hamburg in 2013 by the cruise industry, divided into four segments. They are: ship- and call-related; passenger-related; crew-related and company-related value creation. ?Overall the four segments have generated some 270 million euros of revenue in Hamburg,? summarised Drossel.
Hamburg?s 2014 cruise year ? 191 ship?s calls and 600 000 passengers
To date 191 planned ship?s calls have been registered for the 2014 season (181 will be ships beginning or ending their cruises, of which 52 will be partial turn-arounds, and ten will be transit calls). ?The number of passengers will increase to just under 600 000 (+ 8 per cent),? forecasted Dr. Behn.The projected volume of transit passengers will be in the region of 7 per cent.
22 cruise lines have registered a total of 34 cruise liners to call at Hamburg in 2014. 55 per cent of the calls will be processed at the terminals in the HafenCity; 37 per cent at the Cruise Center Altona and the remaining 8 per cent will be divided between the O?Swaldkai dock and the ?berseebr?cke pier.
For the first time May will not be the busiest month but rather August 2014. ?With a total of 43 ship?s calls; the 2014 Hamburg Cruise Days and a corresponding passenger volume of approx. 125 000 August will be the absolute high point of the year,? said Dr. Behn. The 2014 Hamburg Cruise Days from 1 ? 3 August will see a total of seven cruise liners in the city. The first ships ? the ?Delphin? and the ?Europa? ? will arrive on 1 August. On Saturday, 2 August the ?Gann?, ?AIDAstella?, ?Deutschland?, ?Europa? and ?MSC Magnifica? will be mooring in the city. The last ships to arrive will be the ?Deutschland? and the ?AIDAluna? on 3 August.
Click here to read more.