Danube Press Service: In recent years the Danube has become one of Europe’s leading tourist destinations. Interest in the countries of southeastern Europe and unhindered navigation along the entire river down to the Danube delta have given a major boost to tourism in the region and resulted in steadily rising cruise ship and passenger numbers. While in 2003, seventy-five cruise ships plied the Danube between Passau and Budapest, in 2007 a total of 101 different liners docked in Vienna and Passau, which are the two most important ports of departure for cruises. Next year additional ships—including a number of brand-new vessels—are to cruise this most European of rivers. The Danube currently takes a thirty percent share of the global river cruise market.
This year through the end of the peak season in September/October a total of 3,400 dockings by 101 different ships carrying 165,000 passengers were recorded on the entire Austrian Danube. Ninety-five ships travelled the Upper Austrian Danube centring on Linz, whilst Donau-Schiffsstationen recorded 104 different cruise ships and twenty-seven excursion vessels tying up at their docking facilities in Upper and Lower Austria and Vienna. Analysis of principal trends shows steady increases in cruise traffic and stagnation in day excursions. These statistics do not reflect Christmas season cruises, which have contributed significantly to extending the season and are in heavy demand.
On the German Danube, eighty-one ships belonging to twenty-three firms were recorded as having docked 515 times in Regensburg through November. Passau expects to close the year with a total of approximately 100 cruise ships, 1,650 dockings and 195,000 passengers.
Slovak Shipping and Ports (SPaP-LOD) reported 1,049 dockings by passenger ships and 138,003 passengers at Bratislava through the end of October. At Budapest in the same period there were 1,332 dockings by cruise liners and 174,797 passengers. Developments on the Croatian Danube were especially encouraging: whilst in 2005 just seventy-eight ships docked at Vukovar, by this year the number had risen to 139 cruise liners carrying 18,439 passengers.
On the Serbian Danube a number of attractive ports for cruise ships have opened over the past couple of years to complement Belgrade and Novi Sad. This is reflected in continuously expanding traffic figures. As of the end of July alone 214 dockings (24,560 passengers) were recorded at Belgrade, 127 at Novi Sad (14,470 passengers), at Donji Milanovac twenty-four dockings (3,480 passengers), and in Viminacium thirteen (1,495 passengers).
There are now ten Danube ports in Romania, which recorded 1,018 dockings by liners carrying 143,292 passengers during 2007; 411 cruises travelled the Danube delta.
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