Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum 2019: Greece remains a top cruise destination

Greece has a historically strong position on the cruise market, however, geopolitical developments in the wider region have prevented further growth in recent years.

Its prospects, however, remain positive and are reinforced by the fact that the country is a safe destination, noted Michel Nestour, Vice President, GPDD – EuroMed, Carnival Corp & Plc/ Managing Director, Barcelona Cruise Terminal while addressing the Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum 2019 taking place on May 28-29.

While Greece is one of the best countries for cruises, it has not capitalized its strong position over the past 10 years and has a steady performance, Mr. Nestour pointed out.

This is partly due to cruise infrastructure, which needs improvement in order to host larger vessels.

The ships in Greece usually do transit and not homeport, noted Mr. Nestour, yet, this could change with significant benefits for Greek tourism and its destinations.

In order to gain more homeports, Greece needs to invest in infrastructure that will draw more traffic and therefore cruise passengers to the country.

Modern home ports need to be prepared for larger ships already operating on routes or others that are going to be used in the cruise industry in the future.

Nowadays, in Greece, five ports receive 75% of the cruise traffic.

Furthermore, it should be taken into account that refueling is critical for the selection of Greek ports by the cruise operators.

By 2027, the global cruise industry fleet is projected to grow rapidly, as a new vessel is scheduled be delivered  every 39 days on average.

This represents a development opportunity for the Greek cruise, Mr. Nestour underlined.

Therefore, new ways to support large and eco-friendly cruise liners must be examined, he concluded

Read also: Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum 2019: Cruise industry trends in Eastern Mediterranean

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