“The nomination leaves us deeply satisfied, as it is the recognition of the work carried out in the region, in favour of cruise tourism, which has allowed Madeira to occupy a prominent place at the national level in terms of the number of stopovers, as well as of passengers,” said Regional Secretary for the Economy, Rui Barreto,.

The chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ports of the Autonomous Region (APRAM), Paula Cabaço, stated that the last two years have been “difficult for the cruise industry, due to the pandemic”. Adding that however, “they were guided by a great spirit of union and dialogue between all partners in the sector, which made it possible for an effective resumption of activity in the ports from October of last year.”

According to APRAM, the Port of Funchal was, in 2021, the leading national port in the movement of cruise ship stopovers, having registered 113 stopovers, 114,767 passengers and 70,815 crew.

In the high season alone, which started in October and ended in May this year, the Ports of Madeira recorded 294 stopovers, 17 more than in the comparable season of 2018-2019, as well as 273,699 passengers, APRAM said in a statement. Even so, it discloses that “this number has not yet reached the movements prior to the pandemic, due to the constraints imposed by the companies themselves”.

Voting on the World Cruise Awards, which were first awarded in 2021, is scheduled for August 7 this year.