As more Germans are cruising to Norway, especially Oslo, the two ports have entered into what they called a “leisure partnership” to help develop itineraries between the two destinations and to share information and best practices.
A delegation the Port of Oslo visited Hamburg last week when the partnership was agreed upon. “The idea came about as more and more German passengers are cruising from Hamburg to Norway and back”, stated Gerd Drossel, managing director Hamburg Cruise Center.
The German passenger volume in Norwegian ports increased from 2009 to 2010 by 22 percent from 116,000 to 142,000.
In 2011 the Norwegian ports counted a total cruise passenger volume of about 457,000, of which 32 percent were Germans (2011: 151,000), followed by 23 percent English cruise passengers. Until 2008 the English source market had the biggest market share, but today the German market is the most important market represented in Norwegian ports.
The Norwegian fjords are so far the second most visited cruise area for German passengers after the west Mediterranean, according to Drossel.
Approximately 100 000 German cruise passengers visited Oslo in 2011 and this is by far the highest number from one nationality, said Margrethe Austad, marketing manager for cruise for the Port of Oslo.