By
Rebecca Gibson |
Louis Cruises is to add a third ship, Celestyal Odyssey, to its Greek fleet to cater for increased customer demand in the Aegean in 2015.
Originally built for Royal Olympic Cruises as Olympic Explorer at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Germany, Celestyal Odyssey is a 420-cabin cruise ship purpose-built to offer cruises in the Aegean.
“We continue to invest in Greece and its positive prospects for tourism,” said Louis Cruises’ CEO Kyriakos Anastasiadis, speaking during a press conference in Athens on 24 November. “For this reason, and to meet the high needs and requirements in beds available for next year, we entered into a charter agreement for three years and will launch, from Greece, the Olympia Explorer, with 420 cabins.”
Anastasiadis also used the press conference to launch Louis Cruises’ new subsidiary brand – Celestyal Cruises – which has been designed to offer customers an authentic Greek experience.
As part of the new branding strategy, Louis Cristal and Louis Olympia ships will be operated as Celestyal Cristal and Celestyal Olympia in all markets except Cyprus, where they will continue to sail under the Louis Cruises brand.
“We adopt a word that literally means ‘celestial’ and connects us and our passengers with the stars, while metaphorically describing the ‘divine’ experience our passengers have when they cruise with us,” Anastasiadis said. “The choice of this name pays homage to the ancient Greek sea masters, who navigated their ships by the stars, and it will be easily understood in international markets where, as Greece’s only homeporting cruise line, we operate as ambassadors for our country. We will, however, continue with our programmes this winter under our other subsidiary brand, Cuba Cruises.”
In 2014, Louis Cruises transported a total of 117, 361 passengers of 140 nationalities, marking a 28% increase from 2013. More than 15,538 passengers visited the company’s new destinations as part of its Idyllic Aegean programme between July and August.
The cruise operator also contributes around €128 million per annum to the Greek economy, which includes passenger expenditures and operational costs. Over the past three years, Louis Cruises has also spent around €40 million on upgrades and repairs, which all took place in Greek shipyards. The company expects that growth will continue in 2015.
“In a challenging financial environment in Greece, where growth and investments are the target, our company contributed to the Greek economy in many aspects while concurrently supporting sustainable touristic growth,” said Captain George Koumpenas.