Arrecife Projected to Welcome 800,000 Passengers Annually by 2028

Arrecife is projected to handle 800,000 cruise passengers per year by 2028. This figure would represent a staggering 40% of all cruise traffic across the eastern Canary Islands, encompassing ports in Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, and Fuerteventura.

The announcement was made by Arrecife’s mayor, Yonathan de León, who also sits on the Board of Directors of the Port Authority of Las Palmas. He shared the projection on the eve of World Tourism Day, attributing the forecast to data from Global Ports, the world’s largest cruise terminal operator and the concessionaire for the new terminals in Arrecife’s Naos and Los Mármoles ports.

According to Mayor de León, these figures were confirmed directly to Arrecife’s council representatives by Global Ports at the recent Seatrade cruise industry fair in Hamburg.

A Boom with Arrecife at the Forefront

During a presentation at the international fair, the general manager of Global Ports for the ports of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Puerto del Rosario, and Arrecife, Susana Gutiérrez, outlined the broader vision. She explained that the company expects total cruise passenger numbers for the entire province to reach two million by 2028.

Of that total, Arrecife is slated to capture 800,000 visitors, solidifying its status as a premier destination. This growth is made possible by the city’s enhanced infrastructure, which now boasts the capacity to simultaneously dock up to five large cruise ships. This is facilitated by the main terminal at Naos and a second terminal at Los Mármoles.

This capacity makes the port of Arrecife, and by extension Lanzarote, the island with the largest docking capacity for cruise ships in the province of Las Palmas.