Piraeus — During the Louis Cruises press conference today at Evgenidio Foundation, Kyriakos Anastasiadis, CEO of Louis Cruises, presented the company’s new subsidiary brand,Celestyal Cruises, and its new logo, as part of the overall development strategy of the company.
“We adopt a word that literally means ‘celestial’ and connects us and our passengers with the stars, while metaphorically describing the ‘divine’ experience our passengers have when they cruise with us.” Mr. Anastasiadis said. “The choice of this name pays homage to the ancient Greek sea masters, who navigated their ships by the stars, and it will be easily understood in international markets where, as Greece’s only home-porting cruise line, we operate as ambassadors for our country”.
“Our ships Louis Cristal and Louis Olympia will be renamed as Celestyal Cristal and Celestyal Olympia, while we are already commercially operating as Celestyal in all markets except Cyprus, where we will continue operating as Louis Cruises,” Mr. Anastasiadis added. “We will, however, continue with our programs this winter under our other subsidiary brand, Cuba Cruises.”
In closing, Mr. Anastasiadis told attendees: “We continue to invest in Greece and its positive prospects for tourism. For this reason, and to meet the high needs and requirements in beds available for next year, we entered into a charter agreement for three years and will launch, from Greece, the Olympia Explorer, with 420 cabins. “
Following Mr. Anastasiadis’s remarks, Mr. Pythagoras Nagos, Sales Manager for Louis Cruises, gave an assessment of the company’s 2014 cruise season, which saw an increase of 28% over 2013 with the transport of 117.361 passengers of 140 nationalities. Market response to the company’s new destinations and its Idyllic Aegean program, which enjoyed high occupancies for the months of July and August, with a total of 15.538 passengers visiting the “hidden treasures” of the Aegean.
“With regard to 2015,” Mr. Nagos said, “our data indicate this will be an even more successful year, as long as serenity and political stability in the area continue, which we expect they will.”
Captain George Koumpenas also spoke at the press conference regarding the contribution of Louis Cruises to the Greek economy of approximately €128 million per annum, which comprises passengers’ expenditures in Greece as a result of the company’s home-porting and the company’s operational expenditures – over the past three years, in spite of the global economic crisis, Louis Cruises has spent approximately €40 million on upgrades and repairs, all in Greek shipyards, while the company’s direct total expenditures since 2007 are approximately €425 million.
“In a challenging financial environment in Greece, where growth and investments are the target, our company contributed to the Greek economy in many aspects while concurrently supporting sustainable touristic growth,” Captain Koumpenas concluded.
Louis Cruises also discussed the details of its Social Responsibility program, which continues to support Greek culture through the company’s sponsorship of The Lyceum Club of Greek Women and its support of the Ark of the World, which offers education and housing to children in Athens who have suffered abandonment, racism and social exclusion. The company’s Social Responsibility program is also enriched with an annual program of scholarships provided to students at Merchant Marine Academy of Syros and to Mechanics Marine Academy of Chios for the promotion of expertise in cruising, and through cooperation with Herakleidon Museumfor the ‘trip’ of knowledge for children of Greek islandswho are unable to participate in the course because of the distance of their residences from the museum.
Also present at the press conference were Mr. Gerasimos Damoulakis, Mayor of Milos; Mr. Nikos Aggelopoulos, Mayor of Samos, and Mr. Michalis Petropoulos, Mayor of Ios, each of whom briefly greeted attendees and described their “divine experience” with Louis Cruises and the delight of thousands of passengers from all over the world who visited their islands.
