Port of Tallinn passenger traffic grows 4.6 percent
This July, 1,138,139 passengers passed through harbours owned by Port of Tallinn, up 2.4% from the same period a year earlier and also the highest number of passengers served in a month so far, the Port of Tallinn press release said.
In the first seven months of this year, the Port of Tallinn has serviced 5.17 million passengers, which is 4.6% more compared to the same period of last year. Most passengers – 82% or a total of 4.06 million - travelled on the shipping route of Tallinn-Helsinki.
11% i.e. 571,000 passengers travelled on the Tallinn-Stockholm route and 99,000 passengers on the St. Petersburg route. 5% of the passengers passing through harbours of Port of Tallinn in seven months, a total of 278,000 passengers were tourists from cruise ships visiting Tallinn and Saaremaa.
The number of passengers increased on all routes; the largest absolute growth took place on the Tallinn-Helsinki route that was travelled by 160,000 additional passengers when compared to 7 months of last year.
According to Sirle Arro, the Port of Tallinn’s Business Manager in the cruise and ferry section, the number of passengers has been all time highest in each month of this year. “In addition to passengers, the number of cars has also been noted to have increased this year as compared to previous periods,“ Arro said.
“We are about to reach a point where it will be not so easy to obtain tickets, not to mention car spaces for certain days and trips; a number of passengers have probably had that experience already,“ Arro said.
“Increased passenger numbers are first and foremost the result of a successful marketing promotion as well as increased travel activities among Estonians, mostly to countries that are close by and using own transportation,“ Arro commented.
By the end of this year, the Port of Tallinn expects a total of 8.7 million passengers. Last year, 8.48 million passengers passed through harbours owned by the Port of Tallinn, 443,000 of them tourists from cruise ships.