Spain's specialised Cruise News Media Group has named Croatia and Turkey the best cruise liner destinations in 2009, presenting them with its Excellence Cruise Awards, Croatia's National Tourist Board (HTZ) said on Friday, HINA reports.

Croatia's award was collected at a ceremony in Malaga on Thursday by the head of the HTZ Spanish office, Sanja Jelic.

The award shows not only that Croatia is an important cruise liner destination, but also that this tourism branch is growing, HTZ said.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of passengers who visited Croatia aboard cruise liners doubled in the last four years to nearly one million in 2009.

According to the latest figures, 754 foreign cruise liners visited the Croatian Adriatic last year, down 8.3 per cent from 2008. However, the ships brought 5.3 per cent more passengers, 989,200 in total.