The Mediterranean Sea Region – the leader in the cruise ship tourism in Europe

The main objective of the research is to assess the state of development of cruise ship tourism in the Mediterranean. The article also presents main homeports and ports of call and shows the most important cruise shipowners in the Mediterranean. Moreover, there are analyzed available stat istical data regarding cruise passengers in the Mediterranean and discussed a few examples of properly prepared port infrastructure for handling cruise ships on the example of ports in: Barcelona, Dubrovnik and Valleta (Malta). The research was realized using a method of desk research, a critical and comparative analysis of available statistical reports and publications and also other scientific materials.