CHOPPY YEAR FOR THE PORT OF PALMA

PALMA
THE cruise industry has not escaped being hit by the recession and this year, the Port of Palma is witnessing a sharp down turn in cruise traffic and passengers but, a sharp turn around is already being forecast for 2010.

In 2007, the Port of Palma breached the one million passenger mark and last year, a record 1'300'00 cruise passengers visited Palma.
However, Port of Palma sources said yesterday that passenger figures for this year are not going to reach the one million mark and that the number of liners calling in Palma has fallen by 13 percent.

Come the end of this year, the Port of Palma will have handled 429 visits by cruise ships - many of which operated out of Palma during the summer - 13 percent less than last year. The busiest month of the year is this one. Yesterday, the P&O sister ships Artemis and Aurora both called in to Palma and a total of 72 cruise ship visits are scheduled for the course of this month. The Port of Palma appears to have been hit the hardest with the other main cruise ports of Mahon, in Minorca, and Ibiza handling similar cruise ship and passenger figures to last year. In fact, Ibiza has been slightly busier. But, the down turn is going to be short lived. The Balearic Port Authority has already received 524 docking requests for next year which will translate into a 22 percent increase in cruise liner traffic, the port handling well over one million passengers again and, for the first time ever, over 500 cruise ship visits in a year.