Less than a month after announcing that cruise ship arrivals would be cut in half after this year, the Dublin Port Company has announced plans to raise the numbers again after a pause.
The original cut, from 160 arrivals this year to 80 for the next two, was blamed on a need to reserve dock space for increased shipping partly from rising business and partly from a shift in patterns when/if the UK leaves the EU.
But the cut brought loud protests from cruise companies, the Irish tourism board Failte Ireland, and from hotel and attraction operators who have spent years building up the cruise business.
At the time the cuts were announced, DPC said it was open to possible future expansion, but only if others paid for it. It’s still calling for more money from government and the travel sector, but it has confirmed plans to develop new spaces for cruisers.
