Key takeaways
- Palermo handled 996,484 cruise passenger movements in 2025, up 2.8%, on 25.1% more calls. The port stayed under a million; the port system passed it.
- Palermo's home-port movements fell 9.4% in 2025 to 161,018, then rose 27.3% in the first quarter of 2026, the only 2026 count published for any of the four ports.
- Messina grew 20.3% to 742,526, Salerno 48.5% to 126,613 and Siracusa 82.6% to 73,904. Almost all of that traffic was ships in transit.
- Catania fell 10.0% to 195,095 in 2025 after an 8.4% fall in 2024. The Eastern Sicily authority's 281,000 covers four ports and cannot be reconciled with it.
- In 2025 the counts came in 6.0% below Risposte Turismo's February 2025 forecast at Palermo, 6.7% below at Messina and 16.0% below at Catania. Its October 2025 year-end estimates were also too high.
- The 2027 forecasts (Palermo over 1.2 million, Messina 818,000, Salerno 530,000, Catania about 375,000) are press-reported and measured against unpublished 2026 estimates.
- Against the 2025 counts the forecasts mean +20.4% for Palermo, +92.2% for Catania and +318.6% for Salerno, by our arithmetic. Palermo's port authority projected about 1,150,000 in February 2026; in May its president cited a schedule of about 1.2 million.
- Palermo's Sammuzzo terminal opened in May 2026, Messina's MSC-run terminal gained 150 days of works, and Salerno's terminal cost is unpublished. No port publishes who goes ashore or what they spend.
In February 2025, Risposte Turismo forecast that the port of Palermo would handle 1,060,000 cruise passenger movements that year. The port handled 996,484. Messina finished 53,474 movements (6.7%) below its forecast and Catania 37,252 (16%) below. Even the year-end estimates published in October 2025 put all three Sicilian ports above their final counts.
The same forecaster now expects the big southern ports to grow faster than almost anywhere else in Italy. Coverage of its Italian Cruise Watch, presented in Livorno on 23 October 2026, reported Palermo above 1.2 million movements in 2027, Messina at 818,000, Salerno at 530,000 and Catania at about 375,000. On those numbers Salerno would handle more than four times its 2025 traffic, and Catania almost twice its own.
This article sets those forecasts against the counts that already exist. The counts show real growth at Palermo, Messina, Salerno and Siracusa, a fall at Catania, and a traffic mix dominated by ships in transit. They also show a gap. Port authorities publish passengers, calls, forecasts and terminal works. No one publishes how many passengers go ashore at these ports or what they spend there.
The unit is passenger movements
Every figure in this article is a count of passenger movements. Risposte Turismo, the Venice research firm behind the Speciale Crociere report and the Italian Cruise Watch, defines a movement as the sum of embarkations, disembarkations and transits. A passenger who starts and ends a cruise in Palermo counts twice there. A passenger on a ship that calls for a day counts once at each port. Palermo's own statistics sheet says transits are counted once. Ten thousand movements can therefore mean far fewer than ten thousand people. The national picture, with its two competing totals and its missed national forecast, is in our Italy cruise statistics analysis. This piece stays with the south.
The sources differ by port. Palermo has two. The Western Sicily port authority (AdSP del Mare di Sicilia Occidentale) published its 2025 totals on 11 February 2026, and its monthly traffic sheets split cruise passengers into home port and transit. Risposte Turismo's Speciale Crociere 2026, published in February 2026, gives 2025 totals, calls and the home-port and transit split for the other ports. Its 2025 edition gives the 2024 figures. We did not find a per-port annual cruise count from the Eastern Sicily port authority, the Strait of Messina authority or the Central Tyrrhenian authority, which runs Salerno. For those ports the Risposte Turismo tables are the only full series we found.
| Port | Movements 2024 | Movements 2025 | Change 2025 vs 2024 (%) | Calls 2025 | Transit share 2025 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palermo | 969,165 | 996,484 | 2.8 | 284 | 83.8 |
| Messina | 617,476 | 742,526 | 20.3 | 254 | 94.7 |
| Catania | 216,676 | 195,095 | -10.0 | 98 | 72.1 |
| Salerno | 85,251 | 126,613 | 48.5 | 94 | 100.0 |
| Siracusa | 40,474 | 73,904 | 82.6 | 145 | 100.0 |
| Five ports | 1,929,042 | 2,134,622 | 10.7 | 875 | 88.1 |
Across the five southern ports in the table, movements rose 10.7% in 2025 to 2,134,622, by our arithmetic. Of those, 88.1% were transits. Naples, the largest port in the south, is covered in our Naples cruise port analysis and is left out of these totals.
Palermo added 57 calls in 2025 and 2.8% more movements
Palermo's 2025 count is 996,484 movements on 284 calls, according to the port authority's release and Risposte Turismo's table. The port authority's full-year sheet puts 2024 at 968,936, a rise of 27,548, or 2.8%. Risposte Turismo's 2025 report gives 2024 as 969,165. The 229-movement difference sits entirely in the transit row, where the two documents print 791,181 and 791,410.
Calls grew much faster than passengers. Risposte Turismo counts 227 calls in 2024 and 284 in 2025, an increase of 25.1% by our arithmetic. Average movements per call fell from about 4,269 to about 3,509. The sources do not say why. A mix of smaller ships, fuller or emptier ships, or more short calls would each produce that pattern, and none of the documents we read separates them.
The home-port business shrank. The port authority's sheet shows home-port movements down 9.4% in 2025, from 177,755 to 161,018. Transits rose 5.6% to 835,466. The home-port share fell from 18.3% to 16.2%, by our arithmetic. That matters for the city. Home-port passengers are the ones who may need a hotel night before or after the cruise, and no source we found counts those nights.
Headlines in early 2026 said Palermo passed a million cruise passengers. That holds only for the port system. The Western Sicily authority counts 1,018,892 movements across its ports and 379 calls, including Trapani's 18,282 movements on 61 calls. Palermo itself stayed under a million. Cemar, the agency that publishes a second national series, put Palermo at 990,000 for 2025, as reported by Shipping Italy on 19 January 2026. The 6,484 gap with the port authority is small. The two series use different collection methods, and we do not combine them.
The only 2026 count published so far covers the first quarter. The port authority's sheet for January to March 2026 shows 144,428 movements, up 7.0% on 135,031. Home-port movements rose 27.3% to 26,969 and transits 3.2% to 117,459. The home-port share rose from 15.7% to 18.7%, by our arithmetic. The first quarter is low season, so it says little about the full year.
The port authority's February release also lists new lines for 2026. Palermo expects the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Viking and Aurora Expedition, and the system as a whole expects 17 maiden calls. The release gives no passenger figures for them.
Messina, Salerno and Siracusa grew on transit calls
Messina handled 742,526 movements in 2025, up 20.3% on 617,476 in 2024, by our arithmetic on Risposte Turismo's figures. Calls rose from 227 to 254. Only 39,014 of the 2025 movements were embarkations and disembarkations. That leaves a transit share of 94.7%. Messina is a day-call port in this count. Risposte Turismo's 2025 report also shows Messina up 17.41% in 2024, so the port has grown two years running.
Salerno grew fastest in percentage terms among the four large southern ports. Risposte Turismo counts 85,251 movements in 2024 and 126,613 in 2025, a rise of 48.5% by our arithmetic. Every one of them was a transit. Salerno recorded 94 calls in 2025. Shipping Italy reported in May 2025 that the terminal handled about 90,000 passengers in 2024. That press figure is close to, and slightly above, the Risposte Turismo count.
Siracusa is the smallest port in the group and the fastest-growing. Its movements rose from 40,474 to 73,904, up 82.6% by our arithmetic, and calls rose from 111 to 145. All were transits. The average works out at about 510 movements per call, the lowest of the five ports. Risposte Turismo published no 2026 or 2027 forecast for Siracusa in the documents we read.
The pattern is consistent. Outside Palermo and Catania, the southern ports are almost entirely transit ports. Ships call for a day and leave. That is a different business from the home-port model at Savona, where 56.5% of movements were home-port in 2025 according to Risposte Turismo's Tab. 6, as our Genoa and Savona analysis sets out.
Catania fell 10% in 2025, and eastern Sicily's two counts do not match
Catania went the other way. Risposte Turismo counts 216,676 movements in 2024 and 195,095 in 2025, a fall of 10.0% by our arithmetic, on the same 98 calls in both years. Its 2025 report also shows an 8.4% fall in 2024. Catania has now lost traffic two years running. It has the highest home-port share of the four large ports, at 27.9% in 2025.
The Eastern Sicily port authority (AdSP del Mare di Sicilia Orientale), which runs Catania, Augusta, Siracusa and Pozzallo, gives a different picture. Its release of 3 March 2026 reports 281,000 cruise passengers across the four ports in 2025. Risposte Turismo's figures for Catania and Siracusa add up to 268,999. The 12,001 gap may come from Augusta and Pozzallo, which do not appear in the Risposte Turismo tables we read. The release does not split its total by port, so the two counts cannot be reconciled. The same release mentions "210 passeggeri" for Catania in 2025 in a sentence about cargo tonnage. The unit is unclear, and we do not use it.
Catania's airport was shut several times by Etna's ash in 2026, as our report on the Catania airport closures documents. No source we found reports any effect on cruise calls at the port, and none links Catania's 2025 cruise fall to the volcano. There is no 2026 cruise count for Catania yet.
The port's capacity has grown. The port authority announced in July 2025 that Molo 25, Catania's third cruise berth, was finished after restyling. Shipping Italy reported it as 405 metres long with a minimum depth of 9 metres. The terminal concessionaire is GPH Italian Cruise Port. The cost was not stated.
Three 2025 forecasts, three shortfalls
Risposte Turismo published port forecasts for 2025 in its February 2025 Speciale Crociere. For the three Sicilian ports with a forecast, all three came in below it.
| Port | Forecast for 2025 (Feb 2025) | Actual 2025 | Difference | Difference (%) | Calls forecast | Calls actual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palermo | 1,060,000 | 996,484 | -63,516 | -6.0 | 242 | 284 |
| Messina | 796,000 | 742,526 | -53,474 | -6.7 | 268 | 254 |
| Catania | 232,347 | 195,095 | -37,252 | -16.0 | 114 | 98 |
| Three ports | 2,088,347 | 1,934,105 | -154,242 | -7.4 | 624 | 636 |
Together the three ports were forecast at 2,088,347 movements and handled 1,934,105, a shortfall of 154,242, or 7.4%, by our arithmetic. Catania's miss was the largest in percentage terms. Its forecast implied growth of about 7% on 2024. It fell 10%.
Calls did not behave the same way. Palermo was forecast at 242 calls and recorded 284, so it received more ships than expected and fewer passengers. Messina was forecast at 268 calls and recorded 254. Catania was forecast at 114 and recorded 98.
The October estimates were closer and still too high. On 13 October 2025, Qualitytravel reported Risposte Turismo's year-end estimates. Palermo was expected to pass a million movements for the first time, Messina to exceed 760,000 and Catania to exceed 200,000. The final counts were 996,484, 742,526 and 195,095. Ports Europe attributed the Messina figure of 760,000 to the Strait port authority on 27 October 2025. All three estimates were made with about 11 weeks of the year left.
None of this proves the 2027 forecasts are wrong. It does show that the counts at these ports have recently come in below the forecasts, including the estimates made late in the year.
The 2027 forecasts sit on a 2026 base nobody has published
Risposte Turismo's February 2026 report forecast 2026 at four of the ports. Palermo was put at 970,000 movements on 272 calls. That is 26,484 below Palermo's 2025 count and almost exactly its 2024 count of 969,165. The forecaster expected Palermo to shrink slightly in 2026. Messina was forecast at 805,000, Catania at 282,534 and Salerno at 300,000. Salerno's figure is 2.4 times its 2025 count.
Eight months later, the forecaster presented its 2027 forecasts at Italian Cruise Day in Livorno. We could not find the original document. The figures here come from press coverage, chiefly Corriere Marittimo, Messaggero Marittimo, L'Agenzia di Viaggi and Shipping Italy, all dated 23 October 2026. The per-port table in Shipping Italy's report is an image we could not read.
The coverage gives a percentage change for each port. It does not print the 2026 figure that change is measured against. Corriere Marittimo measures Civitavecchia against "le stime di chiusura 2026", the closing estimates for 2026, and the national forecast against values "attesi nel 2026". Shipping Italy's chart files carry the label "variazioni sulle stime 2026". We infer that the per-port changes are measured against Risposte Turismo's own unpublished closing estimates for 2026. That inference is strong. It is still an inference.
| Port | Actual 2025 | Forecast for 2026 (Feb 2026) | Implied 2026 base (derived) | Forecast for 2027 (Oct 2026, as reported) | Change vs 2026 base, as reported (%) | Change vs 2025 actual (derived, %) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palermo | 996,484 | 970,000 | 1,001,669 | 1,200,000 | 19.8 | 20.4 |
| Messina | 742,526 | 805,000 | 785,783 | 818,000 | 4.1 | 10.2 |
| Salerno | 126,613 | 300,000 | 402,430 | 530,000 | 31.7 | 318.6 |
| Catania | 195,095 | 282,534 | 289,352 | 375,000 | 29.6 | 92.2 |
Working backwards gives the implied 2026 bases. Palermo's is about 1.0 million, Messina's about 786,000, Salerno's about 402,000 and Catania's about 289,000. These are our arithmetic. The forecaster has not published them. Salerno's implied base is about 102,000 above February's forecast of 300,000, which suggests an upward revision of about a third. Messina's implied base is about 19,000 below its February forecast.
Measured against the 2025 counts, the 2027 forecasts are steeper than the headline percentages. Palermo would grow 20.4%, Messina 10.2%, Catania 92.2% and Salerno 318.6%, by our arithmetic. The headline figures of +19.8% for Palermo and +31.7% for Salerno are correct as reported. They describe growth on an estimated 2026. Growth on the last full count is larger.
Palermo's port authority has moved toward the forecaster's figure. Its February 2026 release projected about 1,150,000 movements and 326 calls by 2027, which is 15.4% and 14.8% above 2025, by our arithmetic. On 4 May 2026, Il Sole 24 Ore's English edition quoted Annalisa Tardino, president of the Western Sicily Sea Port Authority: "We already have a schedule of around 1.2 million passengers for the year to come." The article does not name the year. Said in May 2026, it most likely means 2027. Risposte Turismo, as reported in October, expects more than 1.2 million movements and calls up 32.8% on 2026, so by May the port authority's own figure was already close to it.
The wording also slips. Shipping Italy wrote that Palermo would exceed 1.2 million transits. The other outlets reporting the same forecast wrote passenger movements. Palermo's transits were 835,466 in 2025, so the transit reading would imply a jump of more than 40%. We treat it as a wording error.
Messaggero Marittimo reported that Palermo, Messina, Salerno and Catania are among nine Italian ports expected to set their all-time records in 2027. The coverage does not say what those records are.
The regional forecasts point the same way. Corriere Marittimo and L'Agenzia di Viaggi reported that Sicily would keep the national lead in ship calls in 2027, with more than 1,250 calls, up 9.3% on 2026. Campania, which includes Naples and Salerno, was forecast above 2.5 million movements, up 15.7%, the largest rise among the leading regions, with calls up 26%. None of the coverage gives a regional passenger forecast for Sicily. These regional figures share the same limits as the port figures. They are press-reported and measured against 2026 estimates that were not printed.
A forecast is a planning tool for port authorities and cruise lines. It reflects ship deployments announced or expected at the time, and lines can move ships between seasons. The coverage we read does not list which deployments sit behind the southern forecasts, and we found no line-by-line statement for 2027 at any of the four ports. The only named line facts are Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' agreement at Salerno, MSC's control of the Messina terminal company and the new lines the Western Sicily authority listed for Palermo in 2026.
Palermo's terminal opened, Messina's is late, Salerno's cost is unpublished
Palermo has a new terminal. Il Sole 24 Ore's English edition reported on 4 May 2026 that the Sammuzzo cruise terminal would operate from 7 May. It has 1,300 square metres of indoor space, six security lines and capacity for up to 8,000 passengers. The reported cost was about €1.4 million. West Sicily Gate, a company formed by Costa Crociere and MSC Cruises, made the investment with support from the port authority. Its general manager, Antonino Corrao, expected about 160,000 passengers through the terminal in 2026 and 200,000 the following year. The port authority's February release also lists a dolphin to extend the Sammuzzo quay and cold ironing at Palermo, Termini Imerese, Trapani and Porto Empedocle. It gives no amounts.
Messina's terminal is late. The terminal company, Messina Cruise Terminal, is controlled by MSC, according to Shipping Italy on 20 April 2026. Supplementary surveys of the quay raised a liquefaction risk and a pile foundation was considered. A later geological study by Sebastiano Monaco concluded the soil was not liquefiable. The redesign uses a grid of connecting beams costing about €600,000, split 60% to the operator and 40% to the authority. That is less than the roughly €1 million expected for piles. The concessionaire is adding about €500,000 of other improvements. The works gain 150 days on top of the 315 in the contract. Shipping Italy's headline rounded that to six months. No new completion date was given. Coverage of the Italian Cruise Watch, including Baird Maritime on 26 October 2026, still lists Messina among five new terminals due in 2027.
Salerno's terminal is the Zaha Hadid maritime station. Shipping Italy reported in May 2025 that the Amalfi Coast Cruise Terminal – Port of Salerno consortium holds an eight-year concession from October 2024. It has a seven-year agreement with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which owns Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The 2026 season was scheduled to run from 3 May until 11 December. We did not find the terminal's construction cost or its funder.
In eastern Sicily, the port authority's March 2026 release lists cold-ironing projects of €56 million at Catania, €32 million at Augusta and €18 million at Siracusa, plus a new cruise terminal at Augusta. It gives no completion dates.
Nationally, coverage of the Italian Cruise Watch reports more than €1.05 billion of cruise port investment planned for 2027 to 2029. Baird Maritime, reporting the study on 26 October 2026, split it into €339.7 million for quays, bollards and mooring dolphins, €219.5 million for supply and alternative-fuel infrastructure and €205.8 million for dredging, with almost €270 million for passenger terminals, including refurbishment. Corriere Marittimo and Messaggero Marittimo put €321.3 million, or 30.5%, in the island ports. That bucket includes Sardinia, so it is not a Sicily figure. Qualitytravel reported on 15 September 2026, citing advance findings of the same study, that €860 million was invested to support cruising in Italy in 2024 to 2026. That figure covers an earlier period and should not be added to the 2027 to 2029 plan.
Nobody publishes who goes ashore or what they spend
A transit passenger is the visitor a port city hopes to see on its streets for a day. None of the four ports publishes how many transit passengers leave the ship, where they go or how long they stay. No source we found counts how many Salerno passengers head for the Amalfi Coast or Pompeii, or how many Messina passengers take excursions to Taormina.
Spending is thinner still. The Western Sicily authority's February 2026 release cites a 2024 Risposte Turismo study for the authority that puts direct spending linked to maritime tourism in Palermo at €101.1 million. The study itself is not published in a form we could open. The release does not say whether the figure covers cruise passengers alone, ferry passengers too, or crew and ship purchases. We found no comparable figure for Messina, Salerno or Catania that we could verify.
Regional accommodation statistics do not fill the gap. They count guests and nights in hotels and other lodgings, as our Sicily tourism statistics analysis shows, and a cruise passenger who sleeps on board does not appear in them.
The south's cruise data follows a pattern we have seen across Italian tourism. Forecasts, investment plans and terminal works are published in detail. Their effects on the cities are not published. The forecasts tell port planners how many ships to expect. They tell restaurants, guides and city councils very little about how many visitors will actually go ashore.
What this means for travelers, businesses and analysts
Travelers. Expect more ships in Palermo, Messina, Salerno and Catania, mostly on day calls. Palermo now has the Sammuzzo terminal, and Salerno's 2026 season is scheduled to run until 11 December. Busy days depend on how many ships call at once, and no port publishes crowding data. If Palermo is a day stop, our guide to things to do in Palermo covers what fits in a few hours. If you start or end a cruise in Palermo, our guide to where to stay in Palermo compares the city's main areas. From Catania, our Catania travel guide helps with the city itself. From Salerno, the Amalfi Coast travel guide explains how the coast connects to the port.
Tourism businesses and investors. Plan on the counts. In 2025 the counts at Palermo, Messina and Catania came in 6% to 16% below the February forecasts. The 2027 percentages are measured against estimates for 2026 that nobody has published. At Palermo the port authority projected about 1,150,000 in February 2026, and by May its president cited a schedule of about 1.2 million, close to Risposte Turismo's figure. Most of the 2025 growth was transit traffic, which brings day visitors, and the 2027 forecasts give no split between home port and transit. Home-port passengers are the ones who may need a hotel night, and no source counts those nights. Palermo's home-port share fell in 2025 and rose in the first quarter of 2026. That is the closest published signal for overnight stays, and it is still early. No published spending figure would support an investment case at any of the four ports.
Journalists and analysts. The box above sets out how to read each figure. The next test comes from four sets of numbers. The Western Sicily port authority's full-year 2026 count, if it follows this year's February timing, will show whether Palermo held above its 2025 level of 996,484. Risposte Turismo's next Speciale Crociere should give the first 2026 counts for Messina, Salerno and Catania, and with them the base that the 2027 percentages rest on. Salerno's count will show whether the jump implied by a 2026 base near 402,000 happened. Messina's terminal still needs a new completion date. Until those arrive, the 2025 record of counts below forecast belongs in any story about the 2027 numbers.
Data & sources
Period covered: 2024 and 2025 actuals, Palermo January to March 2026, 2026 and 2027 forecasts
- AdSP del Mare di Sicilia Occidentale, press release 11 February 2026 · 2025 cruise movements and calls for Palermo (996,484; 284), Trapani and the port system (1,018,892; 379); Palermo 2027 forecast of about 1,150,000 movements and 326 calls; new lines; €101.1 million maritime-tourism spending study cited. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- AdSP del Mare di Sicilia Occidentale, Porto di Palermo traffic statistics, January–December 2025 and January–March 2026 · Cruise passengers split into home port and transit; 2024 968,936 and 2025 996,484 (full-year sheet at adsppalermo.it/sites/default/files/allegati/mod_expo_porto_di_palermo_anno_2025.pdf); Q1 2026 144,428 (+7.0%). Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Risposte Turismo, Speciale Crociere 2026 (February 2026) · Definition of passenger movements; 2025 movements and calls by port; home-port and transit split (Tab. 6); 2026 port forecasts (Tab. 8). Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Risposte Turismo, Speciale Crociere 2025 (February 2025) · 2024 movements and calls by port, 2023-to-2024 changes, home-port and transit split, and the 2025 port forecasts used to check the outturn. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- AdSP del Mare di Sicilia Orientale, press release 3 March 2026 · 281,000 cruise passengers in 2025 across Catania, Augusta, Siracusa and Pozzallo (no port split); cold-ironing projects at Catania (€56M), Augusta (€32M) and Siracusa (€18M). Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Corriere Marittimo, "ICD, l'Italia accelera sulle crociere", 23 October 2026 · Press report of Risposte Turismo's Italian Cruise Watch: 2027 forecasts for Palermo, Messina, Salerno and Catania; base described as 2026 closing estimates; €1.05 billion 2027–29 investment and the €321.3 million islands share. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Shipping Italy, Messina MSC cruise terminal delay, 20 April 2026 · 150-day extension on a 315-day contract, foundation redesign of about €600,000 (60% operator, 40% authority), MSC control of Messina Cruise Terminal. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
- Il Sole 24 Ore (English edition), Palermo Sammuzzo cruise terminal, 4 May 2026 · Sammuzzo terminal opening from 7 May 2026, about €1.4 million, West Sicily Gate (Costa Crociere and MSC Cruises), capacity 8,000, operator's 2026 and 2027 terminal projections; port authority president Annalisa Tardino's schedule of about 1.2 million passengers "for the year to come". Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
Methodology
We used the Western Sicily port authority's press release of 11 February 2026 and its Porto di Palermo traffic sheets for January to December 2025 and January to March 2026; Risposte Turismo's Speciale Crociere 2025 and 2026 reports (February 2025 and February 2026); and the Eastern Sicily port authority's release of 3 March 2026. For 2027 forecasts and investment we used press reports of Risposte Turismo's Italian Cruise Watch of 23 October 2026 in Corriere Marittimo, Messaggero Marittimo, L'Agenzia di Viaggi, Shipping Italy and Baird Maritime (26 October 2026). Terminal facts come from Il Sole 24 Ore's English edition (4 May 2026) and Shipping Italy (21 May 2025, 22 July 2025 and 20 April 2026). Year-end estimates come from Qualitytravel (13 October 2025) and Ports Europe (27 October 2025), the 2024 to 2026 investment figure from Qualitytravel (15 September 2026), and Cemar's count from Shipping Italy (19 January 2026). Documents were accessed on 8 November 2026.
Limitations: (1) the unit is passenger movements, so turnaround passengers count twice and no figure equals people; (2) we found no per-port annual cruise count from the Strait, Eastern Sicily or Central Tyrrhenian port authorities, so Messina, Catania, Salerno and Siracusa rely on Risposte Turismo; (3) Risposte Turismo's October 2026 document was not found, so every 2027 forecast is press-reported, and the 2026 base for the reported changes is inferred; (4) the only 2026 count is Palermo's first quarter; (5) no source we found publishes disembarkation, time ashore or spending at any of the four ports, and the €101.1 million Palermo study was not opened; (6) the Eastern Sicily authority's 281,000 covers four ports without a split and cannot be compared with Risposte Turismo's port figures; (7) Augusta, Pozzallo, Reggio Calabria and Milazzo are not covered.
Where two sources give different values we show both with their source and do not average or merge them. Cemar and Risposte Turismo are kept apart because they are different series. Forecasts and estimates are labelled with their date and author and are never presented as counts. Figures read only in news articles are attributed to the outlet and date. All derived figures were calculated from the printed values and are labelled as our arithmetic. Where we could not find a figure, such as Salerno's terminal cost or a cause for Catania's fall, we say so and do not estimate it.
Notes on the data
No port in this article publishes a count of cruise passengers who go ashore, their nationality or what they spend; the figures used are passenger movements (embarkations + disembarkations + transits), from the Western Sicily port authority for Palermo and from Risposte Turismo's Speciale Crociere 2025 and 2026 for the other ports. Contested figures: Palermo 2025 is 996,484 (port authority and Risposte Turismo) against 990,000 (Cemar, as reported by Shipping Italy, 19 Jan 2026); Palermo 2024 is 968,936 (port authority sheet) against 969,165 (Risposte Turismo); Palermo's 2027 forecast is about 1,150,000 movements and 326 calls (port authority release, 11 Feb 2026) against over 1.2 million (Risposte Turismo, as reported, 23 Oct 2026), while the port authority's president, Annalisa Tardino, cited a schedule of about 1.2 million passengers "for the year to come" (Il Sole 24 Ore English, 4 May 2026), in line with Risposte Turismo; eastern Sicily 2025 is 281,000 for four ports (Eastern Sicily port authority) against 268,999 for Catania and Siracusa (Risposte Turismo, our sum), with different port coverage; Salerno 2026 is 300,000 (Risposte Turismo forecast, Feb 2026) against about 402,000 implied by its October 2026 forecast (our arithmetic); Salerno 2024 is 85,251 (Risposte Turismo) against about 90,000 (terminal figure via Shipping Italy, 21 May 2025). Claims that failed verification: Palermo passing a million in 2025 (true for the port system only); Palermo "1.2 million transits" in 2027 (Shipping Italy wording; other outlets report movements); the October 2025 year-end estimates for Palermo, Messina (760,000) and Catania (over 200,000), all above the counts. Note: Shipping Italy's headline of a six-month Messina terminal delay rounds the 150 days in its text. Derived figures (our arithmetic): all percentage changes between years; transit and home-port shares; movements per call; the five-port and three-port totals; the 2025 forecast shortfalls; the implied 2026 bases (2027 forecast divided by one plus the reported change) and every change from the 2025 count to a 2027 forecast; Palermo's AdSP forecast as +15.4% and +14.8% on 2025; Palermo's Feb 2026 forecast as 26,484 below 2025. Press-only or self-reported figures: all 2027 forecasts (Risposte Turismo's original document was not found; the per-port table in Shipping Italy is an image); Cemar's 990,000; Salerno's 90,000 for 2024 and the 300,000 projection; the Sammuzzo terminal cost, capacity and passenger projections and the port authority president's schedule of about 1.2 million (Il Sole 24 Ore English, 4 May 2026); the Messina terminal costs and delay (Shipping Italy, 20 Apr 2026); the Catania berth details (Shipping Italy, 22 Jul 2025); the €1.05 billion, €321.3 million and category investment figures (Corriere Marittimo, Messaggero Marittimo and Baird Maritime reporting Risposte Turismo); the €860 million 2024–26 investment figure (Qualitytravel, 15 Sep 2026); the €101.1 million Palermo spending figure (a study cited by the port authority, not published).
Frequently asked questions
How many cruise passengers did Palermo cruise port handle in 2025?
Palermo handled 996,484 cruise passenger movements on 284 calls in 2025, according to the Western Sicily port authority's release of 11 February 2026 and Risposte Turismo's Speciale Crociere 2026. Movements count embarkations, disembarkations and transits, so a turnaround passenger counts twice. Cemar's separate series gives 990,000, as reported by Shipping Italy.
Did Palermo pass one million cruise passengers in 2025?
The port did not. Palermo counted 996,484 movements. The Western Sicily port system, which includes Trapani, counted 1,018,892, according to the port authority's release of 11 February 2026. Headlines that Palermo passed a million refer to the system or to the October 2025 year-end estimate reported by Qualitytravel.
How many cruise passengers is Palermo expected to handle in 2027?
Risposte Turismo, as reported by Corriere Marittimo on 23 October 2026, expects more than 1.2 million movements, up 19.8% on its 2026 estimate. The Western Sicily port authority's release of 11 February 2026 projected about 1,150,000 movements and 326 calls by 2027. On 4 May 2026 the authority's president, Annalisa Tardino, told Il Sole 24 Ore's English edition of a schedule of "around 1.2 million passengers for the year to come", close to Risposte Turismo's figure.
Is the Palermo cruise terminal open?
Il Sole 24 Ore's English edition reported on 4 May 2026 that the Sammuzzo cruise terminal would operate from 7 May 2026. It has 1,300 square metres of indoor space and capacity for up to 8,000 passengers, and was built by West Sicily Gate, a Costa Crociere and MSC Cruises company, for about €1.4 million.
Which southern Italian cruise port is growing fastest?
In 2025 Siracusa grew fastest in percentage terms (+82.6% to 73,904 movements), followed by Salerno (+48.5% to 126,613) and Messina (+20.3% to 742,526), by our arithmetic on Risposte Turismo's Speciale Crociere 2025 and 2026. For 2027, Risposte Turismo, as reported, forecasts the biggest percentage rises at Salerno (+31.7%) and Catania (+29.6%).
Why did Catania's cruise traffic fall in 2025?
No source we found explains it. Risposte Turismo's Speciale Crociere 2026 shows 195,095 movements, down from 216,676 in 2024, on the same 98 calls. No source links the fall to Etna or to any other cause, and there is no published 2026 count for Catania's port.
Are Messina and Salerno home ports or transit ports?
Almost entirely transit. Risposte Turismo's Speciale Crociere 2026 (Tab. 6) shows 94.7% of Messina's 2025 movements and all of Salerno's as transits. Palermo was 83.8% transit and Catania 72.1%.
When will Messina's new cruise terminal open?
No firm date is published. Shipping Italy reported on 20 April 2026 that works on the MSC-controlled terminal gained 150 days on top of the 315 in the contract after a foundation redesign. Coverage of Risposte Turismo's Italian Cruise Watch still lists Messina among new terminals due in 2027.
How much do cruise passengers spend in Palermo, Messina, Salerno and Catania?
No port publishes a verified cruise-only figure. The Western Sicily port authority's release of 11 February 2026 cites a 2024 Risposte Turismo study putting direct spending linked to maritime tourism in Palermo at €101.1 million; the study is not public and may include more than cruise passengers. We found no comparable figure for the other three ports.