Growth strategies and partnerships among the issues discussed at MedCruise gathering
By
Michele Witthaus |
As MedCruise celebrated its 47th General Assembly in Olbia, Sardinia from 14-17 October 2015, port and tourism representatives met with cruise line executives and other stakeholders to assess the state of the regional cruise business.
MedCruise president Carla Salvado said there was cause for optimism in Mediterranean cruising. “Despite some decline in traffic the last year, we have experienced long-term growth in the Med and we need to sustain it,” she said.
“The MedCruise General Assembly offers the opportunity for benchmarking between ports and discussions with cruise lines.” Salvado said the challenges included “how to adapt infrastructure to new ships; how to promote the Mediterranean in emerging markets, including China; European legislation, which should be more harmonised to help us; and how to get sustainable growth in terms of the environment, and also in terms of relationships between the cities and the ports.”
Olbia, along with the ports of Golfo Arancia and Porto Torres with which it collaborates to promote cruise business, has seen encouraging cruise growth, said Marco Mezzano of the North Sardinia Port Authority. “During 2014 there were 150 calls and we hope to reach 180 calls for 2015.”
Salvado told the assembly that MedCruise was working with CLIA Europe to reverse low levels of penetration in key source markets. CLIA Europe secretary general Raphael von Heereman said travel agents had an important role to play in this process. “Until now, 70% of cruise passengers in Europe have booked through travel agents and despite the new information technologies, we believe this won’t change soon. Travel agents are here and here to stay because cruise bookings are complex as people find out which line best suits their needs; which itinerary; what kind of cabin.” Von Heereman said there had been progress following the partnership agreement signed by CLIA Europe and MedCruise last May, with a study of the French market yielding useful data regarding the role of agents. He concluded: “Better trained travel agents lead to more informed consumers and thus more bookings and more cruises taken.”
Cruise line executives offered insights into their companies’ deployment strategies in the Mediterranean and nearby areas. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s Dustin Nason said: “The Mediterranean region is a pearl, regularly scoring above 8 out of 10 with our brands. It remains strong and is a strategic region although geopolitical and safety concerns are wild cards that can lead to sudden redeployment.” From his brands’ perspective, he added: “Yield is king. If it is not profitable, the cruise lines will pull their ships out.”
Kerry Anastassiades of Celestyal Cruises said that Turkey held great potential for cruise growth in the region. “We need to put Turkey on our list, with its population of 80 million and the high potential number of cruise passengers.” He said promotion was another big issue ports should address. “How can you as ports help the cruise industry grow in terms of bringing more people? You need to start collaborating and clustering, working with itinerary planners.”