By
Rebecca Gibson |
Cruise Europe (CE) is set to welcome six new French ports, highlighting the growth of the cruise industry in France and the increasing importance of itineraries on Europe’s western coast.
The French Atlantic ports of Saint Malo, Brest, Nantes, Bayonne, La Rochelle and Lorient will join the association at the beginning of 2014.
“This puts France firmly back on the Cruise Europe map and makes the association even more relevant to the cruise lines,” said Jens Skrede, CE’s managing director.
Many of the ports have joined CE to attract increased cruise traffic. For instance, the Atlantic port of La Rochelle, well known for its tours to 'Cognac country', had a new cruise terminal built in 2012, aimed initially at providing embarkation facilities for MSC Cruises. "This has made it possible for us to handle embarking operations. Previously, we were only a transit port," said Marie Guegan, the port's cruise coordinator, indicating the importance of becoming a CE member.
Joining CE offers member ports a range of other benefits such as the opportunity to network at the organisation’s annual conference and establishing a benchmark for the quality of the welcome cruise guests receive at each port.
“Every port has a strength, especially when they are together in a network, not alone as single ports,” said Elisabeth Gouzien, cruise tourist manager at CCI Saint-Malo Fougeres.
Cruise Europe has more than 100 members within Northern and Atlantic Europe and covers four regions including Norway, Iceland and the Faroes, the Baltic, UK and Ireland and Europe’s West Coast.