Flagship case

Cruise

Why cruise tourism is good for Denmark and its ports 

  • Cruise guests contribute DKK 1.25 billion annually to Denmark's economy - primarily to the hotel and retail industries.
  • It created around 2,400 jobs in Denmark in 2019, and we need those jobs.
  • For ports, cruise ships are a very good business, but the share of revenue from cruise ships varies from port to port.
  • Tourists, including from cruise ships, help to create life and turnover in the local economy, for example in shops, cafés and at attractions.

On the evolution of the sector

  • Over the last 10 years, the number of cruise ships calling at Danish ports has increased by 42%.
  • CMP is the largest cruise destination in Denmark with 351 calls in 2019, which is the highest number in CMP ever.
  • CMP is the 10th largest cruise destination in Europe and the port is a turn-around port, which means that passengers are exchanged in Copenhagen because the port is close to the airport and the port terminal is modern and designed to make it easy to change passengers.
  • Ports outside Denmark are also experiencing growth in cruise business. In 2019, the Port of Rønne became Denmark's second largest cruise port, with 46 cruise ship calls throughout the year. The Port of Skagen has also experienced explosive growth, with 38 more calls in 2019 than in 2014.

Economic gains

Cruises are often criticized for not contributing to the economies of cruise destinations. This is a misconception that is fortunately easy to disprove. The cruise lines and their more than 1.1 million annual guests contribute more than DKK 1.25 billion to Denmark every year. In other words, each cruise guest in Denmark contributes more than DKK 1,000, which mainly goes to the retail and hotel industry. There are no figures on how many Danish citizens take a cruise from Danish ports, but a total of approx. 45,000 Danes travel on a cruise annually.

Environment and Climate

The cruise industry, like all others in the transportation industry, contributes to the emission of both greenhouse gases and harmful particulate matter. Cruises account for 0.1% of the commercial fleet and the cruise companies' trade association has announced that they want a 40% CO2 reduction by 2030.

Cruise ships in port emit particles harmful to health, such as NOX and SO2. However, not to a greater extent than it is still "healthier" to stay on Langelinje than on e.g. H.C. Andersens Boulevard in Copenhagen. Both the cruise ships and Danish Ports want to contribute to a good and healthy urban environment and are striving to find the best solutions for this.

Shore power and cruise ships

25% of cruise ships can take shore power, but only about 14 out of about 2000 ports worldwide are capable of providing shore power solutions.

In addition, cruise facilities are only used during the summer months and the number of ships can vary from year to year.

Despite great efforts, no port in Europe has yet made an economically viable business case for shore power for cruise ships.

The two plants established in Germany and Norway have been established with very large public support, especially from the EU. Furthermore, the plants that are on the way in Germany and Norway are also established with public support from foundations and national, regional and local authorities.

Even if it is not currently a good business case, the development potential is great and progress is necessary. In this way, it is not unlike the rapid development that has taken place in the wind turbine market over the last 20 years.