The need to revitalize cruise ship itineraries grows every year, both in the mid-sized and smaller ship segments, but also among large cruise lines that are improving their offerings. For example, MSC Cruises introduced stops in Albania on its Adriatic cruises this summer. Every year, new ports of call must be found to offer fresh experiences both on board and ashore.
Article from CruisesNews magazine
All this effort is aimed at encouraging passengers who have already sailed with a particular cruise line to return in the future, or at attracting new customers, especially now that the cruise market is at its peak. With so many cruise ships, operators want to build passenger loyalty by offering attractive and innovative ports of call. And in Spain, there is still much to discover and develop.
Regional ports are becoming an alternative to state-owned ports.
Experienced cruise passengers crave new sensations, and this demographic typically opts for luxury or premium lines. Thus, cruise lines like Seabourn, Holland America, Oceania, Crystal, and others always highlight their new ports of call in their seasonal presentations. For example, Oceania will offer 75 itineraries in 2018, calling at more than 240 ports, 53 of which are new. Azamara, part of the RCCL group, will call at 228 ports in 2018, including 30 new ones in 64 countries.
Shipping companies need new ports of call every year to renew their itinerary offerings.
Following this trend, shipowners are also seeking new ports of call in Spain, both in ports of general interest under the Ministry of Public Works and in other ports under regional jurisdiction. State-owned ports, such as Santander, Tarragona, Pasajes, and Alcudia, have begun offering themselves as ports of call for cruise ships. The autonomous communities have also entered this market strongly, especially Catalonia, but also the Balearic and Canary Islands.
the Balearic Islands
, in addition to state-owned ports, the Ports of the Balearic Islands (Ports IB) manages up to forty-six ports, almost all of them dedicated to recreational boating. This agency strives to improve the infrastructure for cruise ships in the ports under its jurisdiction. For example, one of these ports, Ciutadella, has had a new floating dock on the northern shore of the inner harbor since the summer of 2016.
Cruise ship operators are looking for new ports of call in Spain to revitalize their itineraries.
This structure allows cruise ship tenders to dock, ensuring safe and orderly access. Furthermore, this infrastructure has separated traffic from other port uses, thus avoiding the confusion that arose from the lack of a dedicated space for cruise passengers. This platform also allows for better passenger control, increasing safety and improving the quality of service and information provided to cruise passengers.
In 2016, Port IB received nine cruise ship calls between May and October. Among the ships that docked at the Menorcan port were the Seabourn Sojourn, The World, and the National Geographic Orion. This year, Ciutadella will double its number of cruise passengers with the arrival of two large ships, carrying 5,350 passengers, compared to the 2,638 who arrived last summer. If Ports IB's forecast of eight calls is met, the cruise ships Oriana, Seven Seas Voyager, Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Encore, and Thomson Majesty will anchor in the port's waters. Seabourn, a super-luxury cruise line, will make four calls.
Last summer, the six calls by the Seabourn Sojourn, with a capacity for 450 passengers, accounted for the majority of cruise ship visitors to Ciutadella. The number of cruise ship calls in Ciutadella continues its upward trend. In 2012, one cruise ship stop and 423 passengers were recorded, and five years later there are eight stops and more than five thousand cruise passengers.
More than 50,000 cruise passengers passed through the ports managed by the Autonomous Communities in 2017.
Among the state-owned ports, Alcúdia presents good potential for medium-sized vessels, given its draft limitations. It has established itself as an alternative to Palma for smaller luxury cruise ships. In 2016, port calls in Alcúdia increased by 80% (from five to nine), and a further annual increase of more than 50% is projected for 2017 (with 14 calls). Alcúdia is currently the Balearic port experiencing the greatest growth in this type of tourism. The first cruise ship arrived in Alcúdia in 2012; there were three calls in 2013; two in 2014; five in 2015; and nine in 2016. Fourteen ships are expected for 2017.
Another regional port, San Antoni, in Ibiza, has four calls this year, all from super luxury ships: in June the Silver Muse, the Seabourn Encore on July 15, the Silver Spirit on August 12 and the Silver Wind on October 3.
Valencian Community: Denia.
The Valencian Community manages a total of thirty-five port facilities, most of which are dedicated to recreational boating and fishing, although Denia plays an important role in communications with the Balearic Islands.
The Denia maritime station is operated under concession by the shipping company Baleària, which presented the Valencian Government with an ambitious plan to improve the port facilities, specifically the Baleària Port station, in order to adapt them for the arrival of cruise ships.
The Balearic Islands' regional ports are attracting a significant number of calls from super-luxury ships.
Last April, Baleària began the process of obtaining the necessary certifications to become a cruise ship port of call as quickly as possible. The shipping company plans to attract medium-sized cruise ships to Dénia, compatible with the available 6-6.5 meter draft. It also intends to build a docking pier for the tenders of ships that, due to their draft, cannot enter the Dénia harbor. The project also includes creating a heliport, adapting a waste treatment area, improving parking, and obtaining Schengen port accreditation for Dénia. These works, along with the Baleària Port maritime station, would complete the large passenger port area at the Moll de la Pansa. Furthermore, Baleària Port has joined the Integrated System of Tourism Quality in Destinations.
Finally, 2017 marked Benidorm's return to the cruise map. The city in Alicante welcomed its second cruise ship on May 21st, the German Albatros, after nearly three years of trying to attract new calls. The ship anchored in its bay.
New Cruise Ports in the Canary Islands.
The Canary Islands Government, through its agency Puertos Canarios, manages around fifty port facilities spread across the islands, aiming to shorten travel distances within the archipelago, which serves over four million passengers on regular ferry services. It also aims to complement state-run ports on cruise itineraries.
These smaller ports can help segment the market by accommodating smaller cruise ships, thereby increasing the number of cruises.
Regarding cruise tourism, the port with the highest passenger traffic in 2016 was Vueltas, in Valle Gran Rey (La Gomera), primarily due to the regular call of the Thomson Majesty, which disembarked 6,643 passengers throughout the year. The other three ports that received cruise ships last year were Tazacorte with 246 passengers, Corralejo with 166, and Gran Tarajal with 35.
Valle Gran Rey is the main Canary Islands autonomous port for cruises.
The port of Valle Gran Rey, on La Gomera, has become the Canary Islands' regional port with the most cruise ship calls since 2014. This municipality hosted the first cruise ship promotion event on December 1st, following the arrival of the Thomson Majesty, the first cruise ship of the 2016-2017 season. These events, organized by the Tourism Department of the La Gomera Island Council, include a series of activities that had already been taking place in the Port of San Sebastián.
In February 2015, the President of the Canary Islands Government, Paulino Rivero, inaugurated the second phase of the Tazacorte Port expansion project. This project, carried out over the previous six years by the joint venture "Ampliación del Puerto de Tazacorte" (Tazacorte Port Expansion), comprised of Dragados, SA, DRACE Infraestructuras y Transformaciones y Servicios, SL (TRAYSESA), had a final budget of €48,880,000. Thanks to this investment, for which the Canary Islands Government obtained co-financing from the European Union, the Tazacorte port has increased its sheltered water area from 106,500 m² to 200,000 m² and its quays from 85 linear meters to 770. Despite the efforts of the island authorities, this impressive infrastructure has not yet secured a place on cruise ship itineraries.
First Port Calls in Galician Regional Ports
Along Galicia's 1,720 kilometers of coastline, there are 128 ports. Of these, the Galician Regional Government (Xunta de Galicia), through the public entity Portos de Galicia, attached to the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Sea, directly manages 122. The other six are state-owned ports and account for the lion's share of cruise ship calls, especially A Coruña, Vigo, and Ferrol.
Despite this situation, regional ports are beginning to be included in cruise itineraries. Viveiro debuted in 2013; Brens, in Cee, in 2014; and so on. The Cíes Islands are also a regular stop for exploration or ultra-luxury cruise ships, such as the Silver Explorer, and the sailing vessel Sea Cloud II.
However, the number of calls at Galician ports can only be described as symbolic. This year, only the Le Soleal, belonging to the French shipping company Compagnie Du Ponant, docked at the port of Brens on April 17, 2017. This vessel had previously called at Cee in 2015, making it the fourth visit of this type of ship since the port facilities were expanded. However, the stop was very brief, as the ship set sail for A Coruña barely an hour later.
Ports of the Generalitat of Catalonia:
The Catalan coast offers the cruise industry other options besides the ubiquitous Barcelona. In addition to Tarragona's surge this summer thanks to Costa Cruises, the more than forty ports managed by Ports of the Generalitat of Catalonia are emerging as a growing option for cruise lines. Of these, two currently receive cruise ships (Palamós and Roses on the Costa Brava), and two others have received them in the past (Vilanova i la Geltrú and Sant Carles de la Ràpita). With these figures, Ports of the Generalitat of Catalonia reaffirms its position as the most successful regional port system for this traffic, with 46 port calls and approximately 45,000 cruise passengers in 2017.
Ships destined for the English and German markets, as well as those in the luxury segment, make up the lion's share of Ports de la Generalitat's clientele.
Palamós is undoubtedly the most important regional cruise port in Spain. It boasts a pier for large cruise ships, offering 386 meters of berthing line, a draft of 14 meters, and a 43-meter-wide apron. It can accommodate virtually any cruise ship. The commercial pier was an extension of the existing breakwater, approximately 88 meters long, completed in 2005.
It also has the West Wharf, with a 150-meter-long pier and a 7-meter draft. It boasts a modern 182 m² maritime station with police control, security systems, passenger waiting areas, and a tourist information office. Palamós will become a Schengen port once the works requested by the Ministry of the Interior to provide a holding cell are completed.
Finally, Sant Carles de la Ràpita, which debuted as a cruise port in 2014, hosting six calls by the Star Flyer, a luxury sailing ship from Star Clippers, which returned the following year, has not yet established itself as a cruise port of call, although it has increased its presence in the yacht charter sector.
Palamós, the new benchmark of the Mediterranean.
In May 2016, a German passenger aboard the Artania, operated by Phoenix Reisen, became Palamós' 300,000th cruise passenger. Since 2000, a total of 357 cruise ships have arrived at the port in Girona, generating an economic impact of approximately €19 million. But Palamós' growth is even more remarkable when you consider that in 2010, it reached 100,000 passengers, and in just six years that figure has tripled.
The 2017 cruise season in Palamós, with a total of 39 port calls and 38,000 passengers expected (54% more passengers and 22% more port calls than the previous season), will be the most successful in its history, generating a direct economic impact of over €3 million in the area. Furthermore, the seasonal pattern is being broken with cruise ship calls even in November, following a very successful autumn. But in addition to this seasonal diversity, Palamós is also expanding its customer base, which translates into a wider range of cruise lines and a greater diversity of passenger profiles and nationalities. This is also important for its surrounding area: Figueres, Pals, Peratallada, Tossa, and Lloret. The months with the highest cruise traffic will be autumn, with nine and eight calls in September and October, respectively.
Roses and Palamos will break all their records for stops and passengers this 2017 season.
More than half of the cruise lines calling at Palamós are luxury and upper-premium vessels, with a clear diversification of companies. Between June and September, Regent Seven Seas Cruises' Seven Seas Voyager will make five calls (the same as Oceania Cruises), while its rival Seabourn will offer four.
In the standard cruise segment, the arrival of Aida Cruises, a leader in the German market, stands out. Their ship, the AidaAura, made its debut in Palamós on May 17, 2017. This vessel will offer six port calls throughout the summer, bringing 8,000 German and Austrian tourists and generating an economic impact of €500,000. Meanwhile, long-standing clients like Thomson Cruises continue their commitment to Palamós, with several calls by the TUI Discovery and the Thomson Majesty. The British company Thomson Cruises first arrived in the port of Palamós in the 2004 season and has continued to visit the Costa Brava ever since, through the 2016 season, resulting in a total of 136 cruise ship arrivals and 200,000 tourists. It is undoubtedly Ports de la Generalitat's most important client.
Roses: Record Cruise Passenger Numbers
. Roses continues to capitalize on its appeal as a cruise destination. Despite being an anchorage port, this year it expects to surpass 6,500 passengers, with seven port calls (two more than in 2016), during a season that runs from April to September. Like Palamós, it receives a mix of ships offering options for different segments and nationalities.
The first was the Ocean Nova, from Quark Expeditions, a small ship specializing in polar cruises, which arrived last April for the sixth time. But the big news for the port in Girona is the arrival of three medium-sized cruise ships, which, given their size, will cause the number of passengers to increase fivefold this year, a new record for Roses. The big news of the year is the arrival of the TUI Discovery, from Thompson Cruises, which will bring around 1,600 passengers, mostly British, to Roses during each of its three calls. Thompson Cruises was a regular visitor to Palamos (this same ship called at that port in 2016), but this is the first time it has called at Roses.
The Albatros, belonging to the German company Phoenix Reisen Cruises, will make a port call. This cruise line always offers unique ports of call to its passengers, as evidenced by the stop in Benidorm of one of its ships. This opens up great opportunities for Roses in the German market, the most dynamic in Europe.
The ultra-luxury segment is represented by the Seabourn Odyssey, which, after a two-year absence, is returning to the Costa Brava, as is the case with other unprecedented stops in the Balearic Islands, such as Ciutadella. Also included is Seadream Yacht Club, which is once again sending the Seadream I to Roses for the second consecutive year. These last two cruise lines have their main source of passengers in North America, meaning that three of the four most powerful cruise source markets will be present on the Costa Brava.
These record figures will serve to consolidate Roses' position among companies seeking unique destinations for their Western Mediterranean itineraries, highlighting its excellent location and the stunning setting of its expansive bay.
INTERVIEW JOAN PERE GÓMEZ COMES, PORTS MANAGER OF THE GENERALITAT
The proximity of the ports managed by the Generalitat (Catalan government) to the two major Catalan ports, Barcelona and Tarragona, is this seen as a threat or an opportunity?
A standard itinerary can consist of six ports, which sometimes complement each other and sometimes compete. American airlines use Barcelona as their home port and Palamós or Roses as their first stop on routes to the French coast or northern Italy. Some European airlines request a stop in Palamós and then continue their itinerary with a stop in Tarragona. This combination creates a win-win situation: Palamós and Tarragona benefit, and new itineraries are generated that until recently weren't even considered. The possibilities are numerous, and we see this as an opportunity that highlights and enriches the Catalan coast.
Are the fees charged by Ports de la Generalitat for cruise ships competitive with those charged by State Ports?
Ports de la Generalitat's port fees are regulated by a Decree-Law of the Catalan Government. This Decree includes specific reductions and discounts for cruise traffic, as does the State Ports and Merchant Marine Law. Ports de la Generalitat's fees are at the same level as those charged by state ports that handle cruise ships. We believe that Ports de la Generalitat's fees are competitive.
You have extensive management experience in Tarragona. What was the impact of the two years that Sant Carles de la Ràpita was a cruise port of call?
The cruise activity in the port of Sant Carles de la Ràpita has opened the door to the internationalization of the municipality. It has also been a great opportunity for the destination, helping to promote the region and position the Terres de l'Ebre on the international map of the cruise industry.
The arrival of the first cruise ships in 2014 and 2015 symbolized the municipality's takeoff in this sector and established the port as a magnet for tourists by sea, while also offering the opportunity to promote the destination. Within this framework, the port and tourist destination are promoted in the cruise industry under the Delta Ebre Port brand. Recently, we have diversified the activities of the Ràpita area, and with this brand, we are also making ourselves known in the nautical charter sector. The town of Sant Carles de la Ràpita has become a home port for new nautical routes between the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands.
Cruises and charter boats are revitalizing this small municipality and its surrounding area because tourists arriving by sea become ambassadors for the region in their own countries. This is our best calling card, and for me, it's one of the most positive impacts we're having on the area.
Are the municipalities of the Catalan government's cruise ports aligned in the development of this type of tourism? Is there any local opposition, as is the case in Barcelona?
Since 2012, the ports of Palamós and Roses, the town councils of Palamós and Roses, the chambers of commerce of Girona and Palamós, and the Costa Brava-Girona tourism board have jointly promoted the two ports and their tourist destinations under the Costa Brava Cruise Ports brand at major international and national industry forums. Furthermore, these institutions collaborate closely to ensure that the cruise tourist experience is unforgettable from beginning to end. Similarly, the Sant Carles de la Ràpita Town Council is part of Delta Ebre Port, with the same objective: promoting the port and the tourist destination within the cruise industry.
These municipalities are supportive of cruises, committed to revitalizing their communities, creating jobs and generating wealth, and open to the internationalization of their municipalities.
Their promotion is aimed at luxury cruise lines. What demands do they receive from these lines? What added value do the ports of the Generalitat offer to premium and luxury cruise lines?
All companies are welcome at the ports of Palamós and Roses, without a doubt. It's true that the "boutique" infrastructure of the ports of Palamós and Roses, and the Costa Brava destination, have led us to specialize in this sector. And luxury cruise lines have responded very well. In this regard, last year 66% of the calls at the port of Palamós were from premium and luxury lines, including brands such as Seabourn Cruise Lines, a loyal customer for over a decade, Azamara Club Cruises, Le Ponant, Oceania, Regent Seven Seas, and Windstar, among others. Looking ahead to the 2017 season, we can say that Palamós will receive 50% luxury cruise lines and 50% standard and premium lines.
The added value lies in the exclusive service provided to each cruise ship that docks at the pier. In the ports we manage, we strive to avoid scheduling conflicts. Thus, on the day a cruise ship calls, we dedicate all available resources to ensure the pier is at its disposal. Furthermore, we work closely with the institutions with which we promote cruise tourism. This allows for significant synergy and helps us meet the needs of these types of companies.
There are unique and exclusive experiences that can only be enjoyed in certain singular destinations, as was the case for "The World" when it visited Roses in 2010, and the El Bulli restaurant, then considered the best in the world, was reserved entirely for its passengers.
Cruise ship tourists enjoy unforgettable experiences in unique and exclusive settings offered by a destination like Girona, the setting for the blockbuster series Game of Thrones, wine tours in centuries-old farmhouses, or the opportunity to explore the surrealist art of Dalí.
Finally, is Ports de la Generalitat satisfied with the development of cruise ships in its ports? Will new cruise lines be arriving at its docks?
The effort made in recent years will be rewarded with the addition of two major companies, AIDA and P&O, to Palamós, a move that fills us with satisfaction. AIDA introduces us to the German market niche, which we have explored sporadically with Mein Schiff. We are confident that AIDA's six port calls will be the start of a long-term presence for the German market on the Costa Brava, as has been the case for many years with the British market and Thomson Cruises.
P&O made its debut in the port of Palamós some time ago with the cruise ship Minerva. This year, the cruise ship Oriana will visit us for the first time.
Thomson Cruises will also be present in Roses for the first time this season, which represents a diversification of markets (luxury and standard) and an increase in passengers.
