Cork is set to attract 40,000 tourists through its port with 37 cruise ships scheduled to visit the city over the next six months. Cruise companies coming to Cork include companies within the Carnival family, the world's largest cruise consortium, and Royal Caribbean International represented by its flagship Legend of the Seas.
Meanwhile, the Norwegian controlled Nordnorge, on her maiden call to the port, will mark the start of the 2006 season this spring by sailing directly up the river Lee to Cork city centre.
The 2006 port of Cork figures compare favourably with last year, when there were 32 visiting cruise ships involving 29,000 passengers.
Port of Cork company chairman Dermot O'Mahoney said a number of factors contributed to the satisfactory growth of the cruise business in the city.
Among these, he listed his company's recent €3.6 million investment in enhancing facilities at the Cobh terminal - Ireland's only dedicated cruise terminal. The Cobh facility can now accommodate vessels up to 320m in length at any stage of the tide - a vital consideration for cruise lines at a time when their newer and bigger ships are presenting challenges for many ports.
Mr O'Mahoney said American tourists were also displaying a marked interest in the history of Cobh, particularly its links to the ill-fated Titanic.
Port of Cork chief executive Brendan Keating welcomed efforts being made to extend the cruise season. A particularly well-received and interesting innovation in December of last year was a successful four-day mini-cruise undertaken by Fred Olsen Line, linking British and French ports with Cork.
He added out that an independent economic impact study undertaken by UCC found that the regional economic contribution of Cork's cruise business in 2004 amounted to €28 million and supported 204 full-time jobs.