Port of Tarragona Prepares for Upcoming Cruise Seasons

October 28 ------ The government's ban on cruise ships in Spanish ports has led to near complete cessation of berthing at the Port of Tarragona. Since last March, despite a lack of cruise operations, Tarragona has adopted a proactive approach, pursuing two parallel strategies. The first is to remain constantly prepared to ensure that health safety protocols are kept up to date so that cruise ship operations can resume at any time, from minute zero. In the end, operations did not recommence in 2020, nor has a date been set for 2021.

The second action, which the Port of Tarragona is executing in parallel with the first, is the development of medium- and long-term organizational, marketing and sales strategies to prepare for operations in coming cruise seasons, with a timeline of two to three years. Therefore, the Port of Tarragona’s primary objectives for this year are to develop and implement new measures to adapt to new scenarios arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and to be prepared for a possible restart of activities in the cruise sector. At the same time, Tarragona Cruise Port – Costa Daurada has allocated time, talent, effort and resources towards strengthening its range of products and services on offer in the medium to long term in preparation for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Tarragona Cruise Port’s team has redoubled its efforts to promote and present a new range of products and services to meet the needs arising from the pandemic in the gatherings and conferences that might be held, including strengthening relationships with stakeholders in the sector to generate business opportunities and promote stopovers in the city of Tarragona.

The Port of Tarragona continues to spearhead the southern Catalonia cruise project. This commitment goes beyond strictly commercial motivations, as it is a project to promote the whole region, involving leading tourism stakeholders from the public as well as private spheres, united on occasion under the aegis of the cruise board, which coordinates efforts to maintain an attractive range of products and services for the sector. The combined efforts of those taking part in the joint project to adapt to the needs of cruise operators has managed to increase the number of visitors from 1,400 passengers in 2013 to 128,000 in 2019.

Source: maritime-executive.com