PRESIDENT OF THE PORTS OF MADEIRA STRESSES PREPARATION FOR RECOVERY

Porto do Funchal was the national port that registered the highest number of cruise ship stopovers in 2021.

In a statement sent to our newsroom, the Ports of Madeira addressed the recovery of national leadership in terms of stopovers, with Paulo Cabaço pointing out that the preparation for reroma was fundamental. Read the APRAM statement in full:

“The Port of Funchal was, in 2021, the national port with the highest number of stopovers by cruise ships, registering 113 stopovers, 114,767 passengers and
70,815 crew. Simething that has not happened since 2015.

The Port of Porto Santo also recorded growth as a cruise port, a recovery that took place in the last three months of 2021, due to the relief of contingency measures in the face of the pandemic. The 12 stopovers, 2,522 passengers and 2,180 crew members are, moreover, an unprecedented and very relevant value for the island of Porto Santo.

In this way, the Ports of Madeira (Funchal and Porto Santo) ended 2021 with a total of 125 stopovers and a movement of 117,289 passengers, figures practically achieved in the last quarter, despite the first ship of the year, the “ World Voyager” made its inaugural stop in June.

The chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ports of Madeira, Paula Cabaço, emphasizes the fact that the sector started “with more movement than expected, despite all the limitations imposed by the pandemic. We had 13 complete and partial turnarounds that handled 3,126 passengers and 44 overnight stays on ships, an indicator that maintains the growth trend, and that creates greater opportunities to boost the economy of the Autonomous Region of Madeira”, she underlines.

Although she never stopped believing in the potential of the Ports of Madeira to attract cruise tourism, the APRAM manager stresses that “it was essential to prepare for the recovery, maintaining dialogue with the companies, planning in detail the operation, creating working tools and reinforcing communication about what we were doing in terms of health security, a message that was imperative in the face of new circumstances. All this work resulted in an investment of more than half a million euros, an effort praised by our partners, including the CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association)”.

The year 2021 was also marked by the presentation of the new signature of the Portos da Madeira brand (“Your Safe Port”), which reflects APRAM’s new positioning in the cruise tourism market.

Although still far from the statistics for the same period in 2019, in the pre-pandemic period, “the balance for 2021 is frankly positive and gives us excellent prospects for the coming years,” considers Paula Cabaço.

The year 2022 promises to be a record year in terms of cruise movement in the Ports of Funchal and Porto Santo, with a total of 350 scheduled stopovers (325 in Funchal and 25 in Porto Santo). Current prospects are only comparable to 2012, when the ports of Madeira registered 339 stopovers.

For the year that is now starting, 26 premieres are also planned (20 in Funchal and six in Porto Santo), the first of which takes place on February 21, with the “Seabourn Encore”.

From Jornal Madeira