Greece 3rd most popular cruise destination

Greece is the third most popular cruise destination, with a 17% share of the market, but only sixth when it comes to the amount of revenues earned, as daily Kathimerini reports. Figures released by the European Cruise Council show 6.2 million people took a cruise last year, a 9% increase from 2010. Of these, 4.7 million visited Greece but only earned 605 million euros from this. In comparison, Italy topped the list of visitors with 6.4 million and earnings with 4.4 billion. Booking volumes for cruises dipped earlier this year after the Costa Concordia disaster in January, when 32 people died after the cruise ship struck rocks on the Italian coast. However, the industry says bookings have recovered. The total contribution of the cruise industry to the European economy increased to a record of 36.7 billion euro in 2011 (from 35.2 billion euros in 2010), up 54% from 2006. (ANSAmed).