Suncruise Andalucía, an association for the promotion of cruise tourism in the region comprised of the port authorities of Almería, Motril, Málaga, Cádiz, Algeciras, Seville, and Huelva, held its annual assembly in Seville, during which the organization's presidency was renewed. The Assembly appointed Paulino Plata, president of the Port Authority of Málaga, as the new president of Suncruise Andalucía, representing the Port of Málaga, and he will lead the joint initiatives undertaken by the organization.
Plata expressed his “gratitude for the work carried out and the effort shown by the previous management team” for the port of the Bay of Cadiz.
This organization was created in 1995 with the objective of analyzing the needs of cruise tourism in order to improve the infrastructure and the service provided to the companies, as well as jointly strengthening the potential of Andalusia in this field.
Andalusia has become one of the leading destinations for international cruise passengers. Its ports of general interest, located along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, make the region a key destination for cruise lines.
Over the past few years, the Andalusian Regional Government has increased its collaboration through the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, focusing on promoting this market, which saw 903,340 passengers travel through the region in 2016. In this way, it has contributed economically, commercially, and institutionally to the organization of events and attendance at industry gatherings such as Seatrade Cruise Global and Seatrade Cruise Med, among others.
In this new phase, Suncruise Andalucía will address new lines of work to continue promoting cruise tourism in the region:
- Intensify collaboration between Andalusian ports to make joint proposals that encourage shipping companies to include Andalusian destinations in their itineraries.
- Create a joint offer corresponding to nautical-sports tourism, with the capacity to meet the demand of this segment.
- Attracting the collaboration and participation of tourism institutions by intensifying the development of projects and actions with the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of the Andalusian Regional Government.
- Develop technical proposals to offer maritime itineraries that operate specifically in Andalusian destinations.
