Mediterranean riches

There is no doubting the impressive quality and choice of ports and the many and various attractions associated with cruising in the Mediterranean. Nor is the vast source of potential cruise passengers from the countries that border the sea in question when speculating about the riches that can be found by the cruise lines that make a long-term commitment to the region.

But such diversity also creates challenges for the operators that deploy (some with considerable) tonnage in the region. Multiple industry, social and economic issues have collectively led to a dip in the previously spectacular growth that the Mediterranean has enjoyed, particularly over the last ten years. The annual MedCruise General Assembly in June provided another opportunity for lines and destinations to collaborate and make a contribution to restoring the performance curve to its natural upwards direction.

MedCruise president Carla Salvadó set out the priorities for the week. “What is most important is how to promote the region,” she said. “We have seen incredible growth in the Med in the last ten years. At present we are quite flat. Now is the time to discuss challenges, environmental issues, and how to increase cooperation between all the member ports.”

Luigi Pastena, manager of port operations at MSC Cruises, agreed, adding: “We need passengers to have a consciousness of the destinations on the itinerary; destination appeal drives sales.”

In advance of the event, 64 MedCruise members had participated in their annual fact finding survey and this research provided the core agenda for the week. Salvadó presented the results, identifying the five major challenges for the ports as:

• Relationship with cruise lines
• Exploiting the potential of winter cruising
• Relationship with people and businesses around the port
• Relationship with city of arrival and local authorities
• Bigger cruise ships (in size).

 In the identified challenges relating to cruise lines the issue of cancellations (fourth on the list) provoked the most passionate commentary (top three in this category were: port tariffs, shore excursions and long-time engagement).

With the agenda set a series of presentations, workshops and one-to-one meetings resolved to establish the working practices that the cruise lines and MedCruise members could agree on to drive traffic in the right direction.

Michel Nestour, vice president of GPDD – EuroMed at Carnival Corporation, gave a considered response to the ports’ challenges: “Use the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) to communicate with cruise lines; forget about winter cruising – it’s all year cruising; know your advocates and detractors; create destination stakeholder groups; and prepare your ports for the arrival of bigger ships.”

Russell Daya, executive director of Global Port Operations & Developments and Itinerary & Strategic Planning at Disney Cruise Line, encouraged members to seek guidance from the best practices set by other regional destination associations. “Engage tourist authorities,” he said. “The FCCA works closely with tourism ministers who are vested in their destinations – this structure aids collaboration.” Daya agreed with Nestour, also adding: “Infrastructure is the main issue – ships aren’t getting any smaller.”

Responding to the problem of cancellations, Miguel Reyna, director of Commercial Development at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd commented: “Cruise lines don’t want to cancel a call. We invest heavily in promoting an itinerary and selling tours, so cancellations are not in anyone’s best interest.” Tom Anderson, director of Shore Excursions at Princess Cruises suggested a solution: “Publish a transparent berthing policy – while it won’t eliminate cancellations it will clear the majority.”

Productive discussions continued through the week (see ‘Workshop recommendations’) and most participants walked confidently away from the event and into the beautiful Zadar sunset with their sights on an optimistic future. Priorities may be different but the riches are shared in this business. Cruise lines and destination stakeholders will surely find the solutions to bring growth back to one of the most sellable cruising regions on the planet.