Foreign ships generate 40% more cruises along Adriatic

Foreign ships made 540 cruises along the Croatian Adriatic in this year's first eight months, 150 or 38.5% more than at the same time last year, while the length of their sojourn went up 72% to 1,085 days, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

The 540 cruises brought 621,000 passengers to Croatia, 42.5% more than in 2007.

The highest number of cruises, 141, was recorded in August, 48 more than in August 2007. The number of passengers in August was 171,700 or 55,000 more than in August 2007.

Foreign cruisers docked in 22 ports and the southern resort of Dubrovnik was the most visited - 446 times.

Split recorded 127 visits, followed by Korcula with 93, Zadar with 59, Pula with 43, and the islands of Hvar and Mljet with 41 visits each.

The cruisers came from 19 countries, the most numerous from the Bahamas (19), Malta and Italy (74 each), Panama (55), Portugal (41) and France (40).

(Hina)