In 2024, Cruise Atlantic Islands (CAI) recorded its best year ever in terms of passenger traffic, surpassing four million passengers for the first time since its formation in 1994.
CAI, the collective brand of the International Association of Ports of the Macaronesian Islands, brings together the ports of the Azores, Canary Islands (Las Palmas and Tenerife), Cape Verde, and Madeira. The organization closed the year with a total of 4,179,673 passengers, marking a 25.52% increase compared to the previous year, when passenger traffic stood at 3,329,821. A similar growth trend was observed in ship calls, which rose from 1,609 in 2023 to 2,043 last year.
These promising figures result from two key factors. The first, and most important, is the extensive promotional work undertaken to position this Atlantic corridor as an attractive destination for cruise lines, combined with the quality and diversity of the itinerary’s destinations. The second factor was the inclusion of the Azores in CAI last year, contributing 152,155 passengers and 175 ship calls to the overall statistics.
Even without factoring in the Azores’ contribution, CAI’s growth remained remarkable: a 20.95% increase in passengers (4,027,518) and a 16.09% rise in ship calls (1,868).
After surpassing the figures from 2019—the last pre-pandemic year, when the three-million-passenger mark was reached for the first time—Macaronesian ports have now hit another milestone: four million passengers.
CAI was established in 1994 through a joint effort between the ports of Madeira and the Canary Islands. It expanded in 2006 with the inclusion of Cape Verde and, more recently, in 2023 with the integration of the Azores. In an increasingly competitive and global cruise industry, CAI represents a market of 4.2 million tourists, positioning itself as a distinct product based on the unique yet complementary identities of the Atlantic islands of Macaronesia.
According to CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association), the leading global representative of cruise companies and operators, CAI accounted for 2.3% of the global cruise passenger market in 2023. These figures are expected to be revised upward this year.
As a collective brand, CAI maintains a mandatory presence at major industry events, always following a unified strategy.
