TIM eMagazine Volume 2 Issue 12 | Page 20

Maritime Port of Kiel PORT OF KIEL tips Record 600,000 Cruise Passengers 20 Credits : Stephen Gergs Schleswig-Holstein sea tourism enjoys growing popularity K iel, March 7th 2018: Sea cruises are being rated ever higher on the tourism scale in Schleswig-Holstein. This year, more than 2 .1 million sea travellers are expected in Kiel and 600.000 of them – or 17 % more than last year - will be cruise ship passengers. More than 1.5 million ferry ship passengers are also expected. Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the PORT OF KIEL (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG) said: “Our attendance at the ITB Travel Trade fair in Berlin underscores the growing importance which the federal German state of Schleswig-Holstein and its state capital Kiel attach to sea tourism. Cruise shipping is the growth market in northern Europe.” Every year passengers generate a turnover in excess of € 50 million in Kiel alone. Already well-known as a starting point for cruises to the big cities on