Falkland Island Reports Record Season for Cruise Visitors

The Falkland Islands is reporting a record cruise season last winter. From October 2008 through April 2009, 62,600 passengers arrived on 105 ships, topping off a decade of 218 percent growth. Feb. 6, 2009, was a record-setting day with 4,053 visitors arriving on cruise ships in one day.

West Point Island and Saunders Island will continue to be the most popular islands in the Falklands archipelago visited by cruise ship passengers outside Stanley, while most trips from the capital are to Gypsy Cove and Bluff Cove.

Bluff Cove has a large lagoon and long sandy beach where over 3,000 gentoo penguins and a growing colony of breeding king penguins reside. The Bluff Cove Lagoon Tour –winner of the “Innovative Shorex Award of the Year” at the 2009 Seatrade Insider Cruise Awards- now offers an off-road driving adventure and new experiences such as a visit to a sheep farm and wool-spinning demonstrations.

In addition, a new museum and gift shop provide insight into Falklands heritage and local shipwrecks. Also new for the 2009-2010 cruise season just getting underway is the installation of a wave barrier on the jetty, a new pontoon, a new ramp giving access to the pontoon, and a shelter for awaiting cruise passengers.

The Falkland Islands are included in itineraries of more than 35 cruise lines (including Lindblad, Norwegian Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises, Travel Dynamics, Holland America Line and Regent Seven Seas Cruises) as part of wider Antarctic and South American cruises.

Thirty-nine percent of cruise tourists to the Falklands come from North America. Visitor satisfaction to the islands is very high, with 98 percent of cruise passengers surveyed stating that their trip was excellent or good, according to the Annual Falkland Islands Tourism survey. Forty-two percent of passengers take day tours outside of Stanley, the capital, to nine locations across the islands.