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Piraeus, Greece.
Pierfrancesco Vago, CLIA Europe’s Chairman and Executive Chairman of MSC cruises, speaking at the event’s Morning Cruise Sessions, highlighted the economic importance and success of the Cruise Industry in Europe and emphasised that Greece, Europe’s third most popular destination, had a big hand in this success.
“Direct cruise industry spending in Greece stands at about 570 million euro, more than a third of
which goes on wages for 11,000 Greek jobs. This means Greece is Europe’s seventh biggest
beneficiary of direct cruise industry spending. He added, “as a source market, Greece is
resurgent, growing by 10% between 2013 and 2014.”
But, while the CLIA Europe Chairman’s message on the impressive economic achievements in
Greece was clear, he also added a strong note of caution, “while future growth can be achieved
in this country, it is far from guaranteed.”
He added that in order to achieve the full potential of cruising, “the industry needs an operating
environment that is competitive, stable, and efficient.” This is due to the fact that “today, there
are serious hurdles, which, if ignored, risk leaving that potential forever locked up.”
According to the CLIA Europe Chairman, there are five major hurdles on which progress needs
to be made to ensure the European Cruise Industry continues to generate growth and jobs. These
can be summarised as follows:
1. Improving port infrastructure and connections to the hinterland, helping the regional
economy and enhancing the experiences on offer;
2. A transparent and publicly available berth allocation system, ensuring safe operation and
enjoyable passenger experiences;
3. Avoiding sudden, ambush increases in sightseeing fees, leading to unforeseen costs for
the Cruise Industry;
4. Encouraging homeporting in Greece through a stable operating environment, which
would benefit significantly the national economy;
5. Simplify Visa issuance for third-country visitors, helping Europe to remain the number
one tourist destination.
Pierfrancesco Vago welcomed efforts to tackle the hurdles he identified, saying that “the Greek
Government took a very important step towards solving some of these issues by announcing the
creation of a new cruise coordinating body. This has been a key demand of CLIA Europe to the
Greek authorities.”
Echoing the CLIA Europe Chairman’s sentiments, Kyriakos Anastassiadis, CEO of Celestyal
Cruises and member of CLIA Europe’s Executive Committee, stressed the importance of long term
stakeholder involvement, saying that “the cruise industry is totally committed to finding a
way forward and will continue to work with all stakeholders in a constructive and determined
way to boost the cruise industry and generate work and wealth in Greece and throughout
Europe.”
Pierfrancesco Vago concluded on a positive note, “by its nature, Greece is better placed than
most to capitalise on the cruise industry’s enormous potential to create growth and jobs.”
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