Belfast proves a strong draw for cruise ships with near-record visits this year

Belfast’s cruise sector has recovered strongly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic with 141 ships calling in the city during this year’s season.

That is just shy of the record of 146 set in 2019 and represents 50 different ships from some 33 cruise lines, including 18 making their first visit to the city. They carried more than 250,000 visitors.

The result is a far cry from 2020 when a scheduled 129 ships due to call at the port were cancelled by the pandemic. It is