For the first time, the organization WTA nominated Madeira for this distinction.
In 2021, the Ports of Madeira took on a new positioning and Funchal regained the national lead for port of call
Madeira is nominated for the ‘World Cruise Awards’, in the category of Best Europe’s Cruise Destination 2022, which happens for the first time. The autonomous region disputes this distinction with other importante cruise destinations such us Athens, Barcelona, Croatia, Kotor (Montenegro), Lisbon, London, Monaco, Nice Costa D’Azur, Oslo and Rome.
Voting runs until August 7th.
For Rui Barreto, Regional Secretary for the Economy , the ‘World Cruise Awards’ aim to “recognise, reward and celebrate excellence in the global cruise sector”. “For this reason, the appointment alone makes us deeply satisfied, as it is the recognition of the work carried out in the Madeira, in favor of cruise tourism, which has allowed the region to occupy a prominent place at national level with regard to the number of calls, as well as passengers”, added.
Paula Cabaço, Chairman of the Board of Directors of APRAM, remebers that the last two years were “difficult for the cruise industry, due to the pandemic, but simultaneously they were guided by a great spirit of union and dialogue between all partners in the sector, which made possible an effective resumption of activity in Madeira ports, from October last year.”
A quick note to remember that the Port of Funchal was, in 2021, the national port with the highest number of cruise calls, registering 113 calls, 114,767 passengers and 70,815 crew members.
In the high season that started in October and ended last May, the Ports of Madeira registered 294 calls, 17 more than in the comparable season of 2018-2019, and 273,699 passengers, a number that has not yet reached the prior to the pandemic, due to constraints imposed to operate by the industry themselve.
The ‘World Cruise Awards’ were promoted for the first time last year. The event is considered a “sister” of the ‘World Travel Awards’, created in 1993 and considered the “oscars for tourism”, where Madeira has already won the award for “Best Island Destination in Europe” eight times and seven times for the “Best Island Destination in the World.”
Take part in the vote process for Madeira to be recognized as the “Europe’s Best Cruise Destination” in: https://worldcruiseawards.com/award/europe-best-cruise-destination/2022.
