Last cruise ship of 2025 visits Tallinn
Tallinn welcomed its last cruise ship of the year on Tuesday. Cruise traffic is slowly rebounding but remains well below pre-crisis levels, especially from the U.S.
AIDAprima was the 118th cruise ship to call at the Port of Tallinn this year, reflecting a gradual year-on-year increase in visits.
"Last year, we had 100 calls, so we're seeing a small but steady rise. According to bookings, the first real jump will come in 2027. Right now, we have 145 bookings for next year and 198 for 2027," said Ingrid Berezin, head of the passenger business department at the Port of Tallinn.
Still, the pre-crisis peak of 340 cruise ships per year remains far out of reach. On a more positive note, the cruise season itself has grown longer.
"This year we had as many as five winter cruises and we're working hard to extend the cruise period. Traditionally, it runs from early April to mid-October. So we're happy about every visit that falls outside of that and this year we had five ship calls in November and December," Berezin said.
Cruise tourists typically spend just a few hours in the city.
"I'm planning to see a couple of churches and the Christmas market. I think we'll stay there for one or two hours and then head back to the ship," said Janina, a cruise tourist from Germany.
"Everything that's important — Old Town, churches, Toompea. The shops, the cafés, the Christmas market. The Christmas market and, of course, the mulled wine," said fellow German visitors Sabine and Karsten.
Mulled wine vendors may rejoice, but for the broader tourism sector, cruise visitors bring limited economic benefit, since they sleep and dine onboard. Exceptions are longer stops where ships dock overnight in Tallinn.
"For the restaurant sector, overnight stays and organized cruise packages are promising and fortunately growing trends. These allow cruise tourists to spend more time in our restaurants. Tour operators also take them on excursions and to dine outside of Tallinn as well," said Külli Kraner, managing director of the Estonian Hotel and Restaurant Association.
Cruise operators and ports are eagerly awaiting the return of American tourists who largely disappeared when St. Petersburg was dropped from cruise itineraries.
"Americans aren't always the strongest in geography and tour agencies used to sell them on St. Petersburg. Many American tourists had never heard of Tallinn. When they arrived here, they'd ask if this was a suburb of St. Petersburg or if they were already in St. Petersburg. That's likely what created the big gap," said Berezin.
Current bookings suggest Americans may be slowly returning — hopefully, Berezin added, those bookings won't be canceled.
--
Editor: Marcus Turovski, Aleksander Krjukov
