186 Global Ports Holding (GPH) inaugurated its new €5.5 million ($6 million) terminal building at Tarragona Cruise Port in Spain this June, as the port hosted the 64th edition of the MedCruise General Assembly. The new terminal features a food and beverage and retail area together with a tourist information centre. Solar panels will generate the required energy to run the terminal with the excess being sold back to the grid, generating extra income for the port. The building was constructed using an off-site industrialised modular system terminal in Almeria, Spain, before being assembled in Tarragona. “We have built a terminal based on the existing and projected cruise passenger numbers, but we believe traffic will be higher in 10 to 15 years,” explains Javier Rodriguez Sanchez, regional director on West Mediterranean ports for GPH. “Thanks to this construction technique, we will be able to expand the building from its current 2,000 square metres to whatever is needed.” Elsewhere in Spain, GPH plans to renovate the existing terminal building at Alicante Cruise Port. “The terminal was built in the early 2000s, so we’ve made a commitment to renew it following the same structure as we’ve done with Tarragona,” says Sanchez. “The plan is to have the terminal completed by September and hold an inauguration ceremony for its official opening.” GPH is also investing heavily in its ports in the Canary Islands, including cruise ports in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura, with a large project costing almost €40 million ($43.8 million) underway within the three islands. “We hope the new terminal in Las Palmas will accommodate up to four homeporting ships at the same time,” says Sanchez. “The project is expected to be completed by December 2025. In Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, the new terminals will be finished and ready to welcome cruise guests this winter, 2024-2025. “We have so many projects in the pipeline across the Western Mediterranean and the Atlantic, further afield within the GPH portfolio, but the success of these projects and the overall success of the ports in these destinations depends on us offering the best cruise guest experience possible. To do this, we must work with the local people and stakeholders; working with locals is crucial for the success of the port and the destination.” MEDITERRANEAN: INTERVIEW Preparing for the future Javier Rodriguez Sanchez shares with Laura Hyde how Global Ports Holdings is preparing its Western Mediterranean ports for the predicted increase in global cruise passenger numbers “ Working with locals is crucial for the success of the port and the destination” The port hopes to generate additional revenue by hosting corporate events in its new open-plan terminal building
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