The fair, which begins this Wednesday, will bring together 2,500 delegates from 73 countries, a hundred executives from different shipping companies, 500 exhibitors and numerous national and international port authorities.
Tenerife is hosting Seatrade Cruise Med, Europe's largest cruise trade fair, from Wednesday to Friday. This marks the first time the event has been held outside the Mediterranean. According to its organizers, 2,500 delegates from 73 countries are expected to attend, along with around 100 executives from various cruise lines, more than 500 exhibitors, 23 national port authorities, and a large international representation.
During the three days of the exhibition, numerous conferences will be held, all at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds, in which the main lines of the immediate future of the cruise sector will be revealed, as well as the challenges it faces: the impact of cruises on the environment and on the cities that host them or the importance of the so-called "Atlantic corridor".
According to data provided by Seatrade's CEO, Andrew Williams, during the official presentation of the exhibition, the cruise industry is experiencing "unprecedented growth," with orders at shipyards amounting to $60 billion and 50 ships built in just five years.
Williams also highlighted the “incredible potential” of the port of Santa Cruz and the rest of the archipelago, while Med Cruise President Kristijan Pavic said that Santa Cruz is an “incredible” destination and the island, “wonderful”, with many “opportunities” for cruise passengers, emphasizing the strong growth of this sector in Tenerife.
The national director of CLIA Spain, Alfredo Serrano, commented that cruise traffic moved more than 23 million passengers last year and has helped to "create wealth" in the destinations. According to Serrano, in the specific case of the Canary Islands, their "excellent" geographical location and "seasonality" should be leveraged to boost the sector's growth and make the archipelago a year-round "home port.".
For his part, the president of the International Association of Ports, Santiago García-Milá, highlighted the "value contribution" of cruises to the destination's economy, citing the case of Barcelona, where thanks to the increase in visitors to the port, air routes connecting the Catalan city with the United States have also increased.
However, she also pointed out that cruise ships can cause congestion in cities and negatively impact the environment, urging a balance between this activity and its surroundings. García-Milá concluded by predicting great success for Santa Cruz, noting that it is doing things the way Barcelona did, which has grown from approximately 100,000 cruise passengers per year to over 2.6 million.
New cruise terminal
The official presentation of the Seatrade Med fair has concluded with a visit to the new Santa Cruz cruise terminal, which will be completed in the coming weeks.
Main building of the new Santa Cruz de Tenerife cruise terminal
Main building of the new Santa Cruz de Tenerife cruise terminal DÁCIL JIMÉNEZ
The building, which is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year, is located in the Anaga dock, measures about 8,000 square meters, has the capacity to serve 10,000 cruise passengers, is built with teak wood as the main decorative element and is perfectly adapted to accommodate passengers with reduced mobility.
The works, which have already lasted 14 months, have cost 12 million euros and it is expected that the investment will be amortized in less than a decade.
