Thursday, July 19, 2018. The president of the Port Authority of the Bay of Cadiz, José Luis Blanco Romero, presented the Cruise Cadiz, which advances the goal of becoming a home port for cruise ships.
The main selling point when marketing Cádiz as a home port will be Andalusia. " Cádiz, the essence of Andalusia" is the slogan that summarizes the brand strategy, based on the opportunity to discover the entire region by visiting a single destination, which brings together all the values already associated with Andalusia.
As Ignacio González Dorao, director of Cadigrafía, the company in charge of creating the Cruise Cadiz, explains, “the province offers cruise passengers the opportunity to discover and enjoy all the values they associate with the region: sun and beaches, gastronomy, bullfighting, horses, wines, history, culture, flamenco, and nature. All these values, desired and known throughout the world, can be found in the province of Cadiz, concentrated in one place and brought to life by cruise passengers.”
This brand positioning is complemented by an eternal value that will also be enhanced during marketing, namely the port's proximity to the historic center of the city of Cádiz, reflected in the graphic image created, which identifies a cruise ship with the Cádiz cathedral in the background, which is the most striking image perceived when arriving in the city by sea.
The president of the APBC also highlighted other opportunities that will continue to be explored, such as regional strategic alliances, the strong tourism positioning of Andalusia, and the port's Mediterranean-Atlantic location, which offers the possibility of integrating two continents and up to four countries into a single route.
Blanco, who was accompanied at the presentation by the Provincial Deputy for Tourism, Mª Dolores Varo Malia, and by the Deputy Mayor Councillor for Employment, Consumer Affairs, Commerce and Tourism, Laura Jiménez, also wanted to highlight the inter-institutional collaboration and that of private agents - materialized in the cruise observatory - in the challenge of making Cádiz a home port.
In this regard, the port president recalled the feasibility study financed by the three administrations that resulted in a roadmap which included, as one of the first measures to be developed, the creation of a cruise brand in Cadiz.
It also established the creation of different working groups for the development of the cruise tourism offer in Cadiz, which has also been working for some months now, and the president has thanked them for their contributions.
Looking ahead to the coming months, a trade mission to the United States, organized by Extenda, is planned. This mission will involve contacting major cruise lines to offer Cadiz's services and facilities as a home port, and will include significant representation from local tourism agents.
Deputy Mª Dolores Varo, for her part, highlighted the important economic impact that tourism in general, and cruise tourism in particular, has on the environment and expressed her desire to increase it by making Cádiz a home port.
Councillor Laura Jiménez also emphasized the opportunity the city has to attract more wealth and employment through cruise tourism and to use the Cruise Cadiz brand to convey the values and potential of the destination
