According to experts at the Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum 2019 event, recent geopolitical developments have failed to knock Greece off its historically strong position on the cruise market. However, key industry pundits say there’s a lot of room for Greece to improve and to grow.
Speaking to professionals attending the forum today, Michel Nestour, Vice President, GPDD – EuroMed, Carnival Corp & Plc/ Managing Director, Barcelona Cruise Terminal industry professionals that Greece has unbelievable potential even though the country has not fully optimized its position. The cruise expert said Greece performance the last 10 years has been steady, but he suggested the country could improve.
Listing cruise infrastructure as one hurdle Greece needs to overcome, Nestour pointed out the need for being able to port more 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.
Today, just five ports in Greece receive 75% of all cruise traffic. Other issues brought forth were refueling and other ship specific needs. 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.
The long and short is, Greece needs to be able to support large and eco-friendly cruise liners to garner more of the worldwide cruise market.
The Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum 2019 runs through May 29th at the Domotel Kastri Conference Center in Athens.
