During the summer peak season June–August 2023, nearly 1.8 million passengers traveled on Viking Line's five ships and many departures were completely sold out. Short-distance travel remains a strong trend in both Sweden and Finland, while international travel to the Nordic countries is starting to recover after the pandemic years.
During this year's summer season, a total of 1,786,499 passengers traveled with Viking Line.
Travel increased the most between Helsinki and Tallinn, where the increase compared to 2022 was 8.7 percent. The shipping company had prepared for the holiday season by doubling the capacity of Tallinn departures, and for six weeks three ships operated across the Gulf of Finland. Two of them, Viking Cinderella and Gabriella, departed during the period from Stockholm via Helsinki on to Tallinn and back, which enabled many Swedes to travel smoothly all the way to Estonia.
There has also been great interest in travelling to Helsinki. Many of the Helsinki departures were sold out well in advance during the summer. A total of 218,752 passengers travelled between Stockholm, Mariehamn and Helsinki.
Viking Cinderella's summer season has been extended this year with destination cruises to attractive destinations around the Baltic Sea such as the High Coast, Visby, Ystad and Bornholm.
–Destination cruises remain very popular and, not least thanks to our fine collaboration with the resorts we visit, work perfectly as a mini-vacation within the country. For Advent, we look forward to further developing the concept with our new destination, Riga, says Kenneth Gustavsson, Commercial Director Viking Line Scandinavia.
This year, Viking Line celebrates 50 years on the Stockholm-Mariehamn-Turku route, and cruising through the unique archipelago on both sides of the Baltic Sea continues to attract. During June–August, 801,919 passengers traveled on the ships Viking Glory and Viking Grace, which is 8.1 percent more than the previous summer. Viking Line's market share on the route is now around 70 percent.
The Nordic countries, the Baltics and the Baltic Sea also attracted large numbers of international tourists for the first time since the pandemic years. Korea accounted for the largest increase among international travelers. Tourists from India and the USA have also found their way to the Baltic Sea region. This summer, German travelers also increased so that they were now more than before the last summer before the pandemic, in 2019.
Viking Line June–August 2023
- All lines in total: 1,786,499 passengers, 227,064 cars
- Turku–Mariehamn–Stockholm 801,919 passengers
- Helsinki–Mariehamn–Stockholm 218,752 passengers
- Helsinki–Tallinn 656,401 passengers
- Stockholm–Mariehamn (no service 30.6–6.8.2023) 109,427 passengers
According to the press release.
