By
Michele Witthaus |
Representatives of ports, cruise and ferry lines, shipyards and other organisations gathered in Trieste, Italy, on 21 and 22 March for the inaugural Adriatic Sea Forum. Covering the four topics of ‘cruise, ferry, sail and yacht’, the event focused on the potential for the Adriatic Sea to market itself as a region, in a similar manner to the Caribbean or the Red Sea.
Croatia’s upcoming membership of the European Union in July this year was cited by several participants as a major factor that will facilitate the development of tourism within the region. The Adriatic/Ionian Sea region, which will be established by the end of 2013, was also a focus of comment. Ambassador Margit Waestfelt of the Central European Institute said: “This new region will lead to sustainable mobility for tourism areas.”
The secretaries general of Medcruise and CLIA UK & Ireland, Maria de Larratea and Robert Ashdown, participated in a dialogue during the Forum. Ashdown remarked: “The Adriatic is the gateway to the German market, which grew by 12 per cent last year, despite being a mature market.” He listed good airports and new destinations such as Montenegro and Croatia among the area’s strengths for cruise but added that ports in the region should turn their attention to providing better facilities for waste. De Larratea said: “The region really has no weak points. It offers fuel-efficient itineraries due to having many ports close together and many destinations have the potential to be developed.”
President of tourism consultancy Risposte Turismo, Francesco di Cesare, who presented the Adriatic Sea Tourism Report 2013 at the event, said: “The aim is to combine sectors that have always been treated as separate by looking at what they have in common. Rather than countries in the Adriatic competing with one another, we should treat the Adriatic as one single tourist destination that considers other areas as its competitors.”
Costa Cruises’ commercial director for Italy, Andrea Tavella, offered the perspective of one of the region’s most important cruise lines, commenting: “The Adriatic is now both a source market and a destination market for Costa.” He said a high priority for the line in the Adriatic was “improved infrastructure to enable us to reach the pier more easily in ports”.
Ferry traffic was also under the spotlight, with a session focusing on the need to build tourist traffic by ferry across the region. Causes of and potential solutions to a downturn of almost 2 per cent in ferry passenger movements in the Adriatic over the last two years were debated by representatives of the ports of Trieste and Dubrovnik as well as ferry companies Grimaldi Group/Minoan Lines and Tirrenia.
The Forum was hosted by the Trieste Passenger Terminal and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy. Fincantieri, whose shipyards in Trieste and nearby Monfalcone are major providers of employment in the area, was among the organisations supporting the event.