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 Mediter-ranean. The article also presents main homeports and ports of call and shows the most important cruise ship-owners in the Mediterranean. Moreover, there are analyzed available statistical data regarding cruise passen-gers 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 publi-cations and also other scientific materials.