Quebec City passes the 100,000 cruise passengers milestone

Quebec City, November 4, 2010 - The Quebec Port Authority (QPA) submits, for the fourth consecutive year, a very positive report on the international cruise activities. For the first time in its history, the QPA has thus reached the 100,000 mark for the number of passengers visiting Quebec City during a single cruise season.

In total, 102,274 passengers have visited Quebec City during the 2010 season, a global increase of 18% when compared to 2009. From that number, 60,158 passengers were calling on Quebec City, while 42,116 passengers chose it as their destination. 34,494 crewmembers have also transited through the Port, for a grand total of over 136,000 visitors.

"This is a very significant milestone for me in this, my last year as CEO of the Port of Quebec. Since 1987, more than 1.2 million passengers have transited through the port. With the construction of the cruise terminal, the traffic has almost tripled when compared to how we were doing before 2000", says Ross Gaudreault, President and CEO of the QPA.

The 18% growth in traffic this season is particularly attributable to the prestigious MSC Cruises line, whose MSC Poesia visited three times, the first of which was a port of call, while the two other times were destination calls. Among other events of interest in the season, four other cruise ships called on Quebec City for the first time: Aida Cruises' AidaLuna, with a capacity of 2,500 passengers; P&O Cruises' Arcadia, with a capacity of 2,556 passengers; Phoenix Reisen line's Amadea, with a capacity of 848 passengers and finally, Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Summit, with a capacity of 2,450 passengers.

Local population have been able to admire three cruise ships at once five different times during the season. "On October 16, we have simultaneously welcomed four cruise ships in Quebec City, which corresponded to the approximate presence of 7,500 passengers and generated economic benefits of approximately $1.3 million in less than 48 hours ¹ ", mentions Mr. Ross Gaudreault.

There will be numerous challenges for the St. Lawrence cruise industry over the next few years. Among the main ones, let's mention the development of more traffic during the summer months. In 2010, the season started at the end of April with the arrival of the Costa Atlantica. However, over 80% of the traffic takes place during the months of September and October. "In 2011, marketing efforts should be made to increase the summer traffic, as well as to promote the idea of leaving from Quebec City for a cruise on board one of the various ships from Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Yachts of Seabourn or MSC Cruises, who will all be offering Quebec City departures. The city's inhabitants should be made aware of that possibility. We will have to stay alert when facing the competition from other regions in the world", concludes Mr. Gaudreault.

It should be noted that, according to a study realized by the Ministère du Tourisme du Québec in 2009, the international cruise industry in Quebec generates direct economic benefits of close to $84.5 million. The main part of these benefits comes from passengers' spending. Passenger spending reached an average of $102 per passenger when calling on the city and $460 per destination passenger (cruise passengers' arriving or departing from the Port of Quebec). Incidentally, Quebec City is the largest port of call and destination port on the St. Lawrence.

Note 1: Estimate made from data from Tourisme Québec.

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Source:

Patrick Robitaille
Vice President Marketing and Development
Quebec Port Authority
Tel.: (418) 648-4956