NEW ORLEANS (AP) - New Orleans set a record for cruise passengers last year at nearly 1.2 million people.

  

Port NOLA released figures Wednesday that showed total traffic was up 2.3 percent last year, compared with 2017.

  

Port officials say that figure should grow this year and next year, as the city welcomes several new cruise ships.

  

New Orleans was the sixth busiest cruise port in the United States.

  

The 2018 figures include more than 30,000 riverboat cruise passengers. That was up 23 percent from the previous year.

  

New Orleans is the home port for five riverboats.

  

The port said about 90 percent of New Orleans cruise passengers are from outside Louisiana. The port news release said more than two-thirds of those passengers spend some time in New Orleans before or after their cruise.