Europe’s biggest cruise companies have already deployed 18 vessels in the East Med and other European destinations and plan to ramp up their operations with 28 ships in June and 50 in July, before reaching this summer’s maximum target of 60 operational cruise ships in August.
More than half of these vessels will be deployed in Greek waters according to Ioannis Plakiotakis, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy whose speech marked the official opening of this year’s digital Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum
“Forty cruise ships are expected to operate in Greek waters and 45 ports have their own contingency plans developed in a way to facilitate cruise ships without affecting the experience of passengers, crews or the local communities,” he said.
“Thanks to our national blue freedom vaccination programme which prioritises tourism destinations and cruise hotspots, we are optimistic that this year will be substantially better than the previous,” he said in his opening remarks.
Greece has been lauded for its efforts to develop a tourism product capable of instilling a sense of trust as a safe destination that is fully prepared to weather the consequences of the pandemic and this view was also echoed by Pierfrancesco Vago, CLIA Global Chairman and Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises, who also addressed the 500 delegates attending this year’s PSTF on their computer screens from around the world.
“Greece is one of the countries to achieve early resumption of operations. Now more than ever feels like the time of renewal as the industry emerges from the dark winter of Covid,” he said
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“Challenges will remain, but we are building back better and can be optimistic now, as we have worked with governments, terminals and destinations to develop protocols for a safe and responsible return to service,” he said.
Already, more than 200,000 passengers have taken a cruise safely since the end of last summer, and this year the East Med shows the way with an early start which may help Greece become a permanent country of embarkation, according to Vago.
But uncertainty as to when cruise operations can recommence at a viable level to sustain the industry is one of those challenges.
TUI restarted operations last week from Crete and its plan for this summer is to purely offer Greece cruises from Iraklion with two different itineraries. “If more travel restrictions are lifted, we will return to other itineraries. But between May to October Greece is the only destination we are offering,” said Wybcke Meier, CEO, TUI Cruises.
According to MSC Cruises, certain regions such as Asia and North America are still off limits for the cruise sector, however CEO Gianni Onorato predicts that more Europeans will turn to cruising the region this summer as they are cut off from intercontinental destinations due to airlift restrictions and travel protocols. He said: “The Green certificate will allow more Europeans to focus on Europe, and Greece will be one of the main destinations for them.”
Michael Thamm, Group CEO, Costa Group and Carnival Asia, agrees: “Greece is a pilar for Germans, Italians and French due to its beauty and the natural desire to see the country, and cruising is the best way to do that. We want to extend our presence in Greece beyond the season even to December. Both our brands have resumed operations in Greece and there will be more ships coming to Greece.”
