This year has been the busiest cruise season in the Port of Sydney’s 22 year history, which welcomed 117 ships and 210 thousand passengers. Traffic has been steadily increasing since the industry slowed down in 2020 because of COVID-19.
The port’s manager Nicole MacAulay says they didn’t expect the numbers to exceed beyond the pre-pandemic average so soon of 100 ships with 154 thousand passengers per year. She credits a new marketing campaign that partners Sydney with other ports in Atlantic Canada and New England.
Downtown shops located near the port at times needed more staff because of an increase in customers.
The season started in April and ended Saturday with the departure of the season’s smallest vessel, Insignia, accommodating 824 passengers at 180 meters in length. The Queen Mary 2 at 345 meters carrying 2, 700 passengers was the largest.
CKOA Radio spoke to MacAulay about the record breaking season.
