The Port of Skagen in Denmark is seeing a 100 percent increase in cruise traffic this year.

“Forty-two cruise ships carrying up to 68,500 guests are going to call at Skagen in 2018,” said Willy B. Hansen, CEO of the port. “An increase of more than 100 percent compared to 2017, where 33,000 cruise guests onboard 31 ships visited Skagen.”

First time visitors this year include ships from both Viking Ocean Cruises and Princess Cruises, added Anne Sofie Rønne Jensen, cruise manager.

“We created new extra tours as the guest profiles are different and the trends within tourism are changing,” Jensen said. “We work closely together with our local cruise network, Cruise Skagen Denmark, where the members count both politicians, the port authority, the tourist organization, the trade organization as well as retailers, restaurants, attractions and bus operators to professionalize our product.”

Skagen likes to point out its good location – on the route between the Baltic and Norwegian fjords.

“We are actually also very well located for the vessels coming from or going to Southampton, Kiel and Amsterdam,” Jensen added.

New cruise facilities were completed in 2015, including two piers capable of handling big ships, which were built with input from various cruise operators.

Skagen is ready and able to host more ships, as the second-largest tourism destination in Denmark behind Copenhagen. The city receives around 2 million visitors annually.

“We are already discussing 2022 with some cruise lines,” Jensen continued. “We do not see any challenges as of now regarding the capacity growth and larger ships as we have not yet reached our maximum capacity ship-size wise or regarding the number of guests.”

The Viking Sky opens the 2019 season in Skagen on April 2, while the Saga Sapphire is currently scheduled as the last call on September 29, on a 12-night cruise from Dover.