1 0 him a sense of optimism for the long-term future of the industry. “There is still so much to discover in the world,” he says. “Hearing about people who want to promote their destinations or who want to start their cruise journey and want to learn about our business is always very exciting. It is also rewarding to create something new, such as the latest project we worked on with Dubai Harbour. Following the development work, the port is a spectacular place to start or end a cruise experience for our guests.” Dubai is just one example of the many projects in which Nestour has been involved on behalf of Carnival Corporation, and he takes pride in the global achievements of its port and destination team. “All the port and destination investments that we have made are an immense source of satisfaction,” he says. “Most of these projects have their own journey and take a significant amount of time, effort and investment to develop, build and then operate. In addition, these projects require extensive teamwork encompassing many stakeholders. In short, we are very proud of all of our projects and port and destination partners.” With such a range of options, judging which homeport is right for a particular ship is a complex, yet crucial, decision to make when creating an itinerary. According to Nestour, the influence of travel links to bring the guests to the homeport play an important part in making that decision once the port nautical and infrastructure considerations have been taken into account. For transit ports, the attractions available at the destination also matter to guests. “As an example, consider a West Mediterranean itinerary for Spain, France and Italy,” he explains. “AIDA Cruises, our German brand, could homeport in Palma de Mallorca in Spain’s Balearic Islands, since its airport has excellent flight connections with Germany and the islands are well-loved by its guests. However, the port would not work for our American guests and brands due to the lack of air connectivity, but Barcelona in Spain or Civitavecchia in Italy would. As a result, one cruise line may choose a particular homeport depending on its target market, but the same homeport may not work for another cruise line.” The cruise travel resumption since the beginning of summer 2021 is giving the industry a great platform for 2022 and beyond, but the port authorities and tourist boards always have a key role to play in supporting cruise brands. “One of the most effective approaches helping our brands to create consumer demand that we have found is when ports, governments and tourism boards focus on KEYNOTE AIDA Cruises’ ships often call at ports in Germany and Spain
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