BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – St. Kitts was listed among the top 50 busiest cruise ports of call and homeports by passenger numbers in 2010.
Cruise Insight Magazine – the global cruise market magazine listed St. Kitts at number 35 with 595,000 passengers in 2010, up 144,000 or 32 percent increase from the 451,000 passengers in 2009 in a 2011 edition.
St. Kitts was listed ahead of Aruba at 37 with 567,000 (607,000 in 2009), down 38,000 or -6 percent; Puerto Vallarta at 40 with 554,000 (484,000 in 2009), up 70,000 or +15 percent); Dominica at 42 with 518,000 (532,000in 2009) down 14,000 or -3 percent; British Virgin Islands at 43 with 501,000 (530,000 in 2009) down 29,000 or -6 percent.
Cozumel, Mexico, regained the top spot from Nassau, The Bahamas, recording 2.9 million passengers to Nassau’s 2.7 million.
Cruise Insight listed St. Thomas at #5 with 1.8 million passengers in 2010 compared to 1.5 million in 2009; Grand Cayman at #6 with 1,598,000 in 2010 compared to 1,520,000 in 2009; St. Maarten at #6 with 1,513,000 in 2010 compared to 1,215,000 in 2009; Freeport (Bahamas) at #17 with 787,000 in 2010 compared with 552,000 in 2009; Belize at #18, with 765,000 in 2010 compared to 705,000 in 2009; St. Lucia at #24 with 670,000 in 2010 compared 699,000 in 2009; Barbados at #25 with 665,000 passengers in 2010 compared to 636,000 in 2009; Grand Turk at #30 with 623,000 passengers in 2010 compared to 535,000 in 2009; Ocho Rios (Jamaica) at #32 with 609,000 passengers in 2010 compared to 638,000 in 2009 and Antigua in at #33, with 607,000 passengers in 2010 compared to 713,000 in 2009.
The magazine pointed out that the figures for St. Thomas and Barbados include embarking/disembarking as well as transit passengers.
