The cruise passenger industry will be at satisfactory levels for 2022 in our country, far exceeding the numbers of 2019, a year when there were no restrictive measures against the pandemic, said Shipping Minister Giannis Plakiotakis speaking at a special event on the cruise ship Celest Olympia, on the occasion of the start of its cruises from the port of Lavrio.
Mr. Plakiotakis added that more than 700 cruise ships will travel to the Aegean this year and 570 of them will do home porting in a Greek port.
“Our government’s efforts to increase the presence of cruising in our country, constantly promoting Greece as a reliable market of high standards, do not stop,” he said, announcing initiatives to create a Berth Allocation platform (in the cruise ship management system ).
At the same time, he added that the anti-pandemic cruise safety protocol is being updated to respond to international developments. For the port of Lavrio, the Minister of Shipping said that we are in the final stretch for the construction of the seven floating piers for hosting yachts, with 195 new berths in a special geographical location in great demand.
“The Greek cruise this year is clearly on track to overcome not only the consequences of the crisis but also the most optimistic forecasts that existed before the pandemic. In many ports we have higher performance even than 2019, the milestone year for Greek tourism,” he said. for her part, Deputy Minister of Tourism Sofia Zacharaki.
He added that Lavrio in particular can be the most crucial link in the connection of mainland with island Greece as it is closer than any other in the Cyclades islands and is a key lever for decongestion of the large port in Piraeus.
Celestyal Cruises business director George Koubenas said that “in 2019, Celestyal ships carried 120,000 passengers from 140 different countries, while the company’s total financial footprint in the Greek economy was 133 million euros.”
He added that the company’s management remains faithful to its vision for the development of cruise in Greece, stating that Lavrio under certain conditions can develop into a cruise port, being a gateway to the Aegean islands and Turkey.
The cruise ship Celestyal Olympia from Friday 29/04 will make three-day and four-day cruises approaching Mykonos, Kusadasi, Patmos, Heraklion and Santorini twice a week while every Wednesday the ship will also approach its port.
Source: Capital
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