Italy’s cruise ports expect around 16 million passenger movements in 2027

Photo: sabine

The forecast counts movements, not individual passengers

On October 26, 2026, Federturismo published the forecast from Risposte Turismo’s Italian Cruise Watch 2026. The study expects around 16 million passenger movements at Italian ports in 2027, about four percent more than the figures forecast for 2026. It projects more than 6,370 ship calls, around five percent above the expected figure for the previous year.

The forecast counts port movements. According to the announcement, this includes embarkations and disembarkations, as well as passengers on transit stops. For example, someone who boards a ship at one port and later disembarks at another may be counted in the movement figures for both ports. This metric is useful for understanding port traffic, but it does not indicate how many people in total took a cruise.

The comparison with 2026 is also a forecast comparison: the 2027 figure is set against the numbers expected for 2026. Livorno offers a limited snapshot of current operations: Porto di Livorno 2000 reported 333 calls and 669,146 passengers in the first nine months of 2026. The terminal operator expected 421 calls and around 815,000 passengers for the full year.

Civitavecchia remains in the lead, while Palermo sees particularly strong growth

The port forecasts show that the national total does not mean the same trend for every location. For Civitavecchia, the country’s largest cruise port, Risposte Turismo forecasts 3.8 million passenger movements and 990 calls in 2027. Naples is expected to record 1.95 million movements, and Genoa 1.6 million. La Spezia, with 845,000 passenger movements, is expected to round out the five largest ports.

Among the ports named, the study forecasts the strongest increase in Palermo: movements are expected to rise by around 20 percent to more than 1.2 million, while calls could increase by 33 percent. This would move Palermo up to fourth place in the forecast. Port figures like these help put the scale of individual destinations into perspective within the national market. They are forecasts for 2027.

Terminal projects are spread over several years

The announcement puts planned investment in Italian cruise ports for 2027–2029 at more than one billion euros. This includes around 340 million euros for berths and other port facilities, 220 million euros for supplies and alternative fuels, and 215 million euros for new cruise terminals. Including the renovation of existing terminals, the stated total for this category rises to around 270 million euros. A further roughly 206 million euros is allocated to dredging and deepening port areas.

According to the plan, eight new terminals are to open over the coming years: Ravenna, Bari, Messina, Taranto and Brindisi are scheduled for 2027; Venezia-Marghera and Ancona for 2028; and La Spezia for 2029. For travelers and port cities, the practical distinction is therefore between expected traffic and the status of planned facilities at each location. The investment amounts and opening dates are planning figures from the published forecast.

Autor: Markus Lenk