Cruise: 10% increase in passenger traffic for Celestyal

Celestyal participated successful the 8th Infrastructure-Transport Conference, held connected September 22–24 successful Athens, with the Chief Operating Officer, Capt. George Koumbenas, to sermon the prospects, challenges and needs of the cruise manufacture successful Greece, arsenic a talker connected the sheet “Coastal Shipping - Shipping - Ports: Fleet Renewal and Port Infrastructure Upgrade”, unneurotic with representatives of organization bodies and organizations specified arsenic the Ports Regulatory Authority, the Hellenic Ports and Ports Authority, the Ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki, arsenic good arsenic Octane Management Consultants.”

Mr. Koumbenas emphasized that cruising is the fastest increasing signifier of tourism worldwide, mounting a caller grounds successful our state arsenic well. In 2024, Greece welcomed 8 cardinal cruise rider movements, portion an summation of 10% is expected for 2025. Celestyal besides recorded a corresponding increase, by 10%, compared to past year.

“Cruising is going from grounds to grounds and Greece is intelligibly benefiting from this momentum. At the aforesaid time, however, the maturation is accompanied by important challenges that we indispensable code strategically, focusing connected infrastructure and biology requirements,” said Capt. George Koumbenas.

Among the cardinal factors affecting cruising, Mr. Koumbenas highlighted the expanding biology requirements of the EU, which pb to precocious operating costs for ships, the uncertainty surrounding the cruise tax, which began to beryllium implemented successful July 2025 with an unorthodox plan regarding implementation and gross sharing, arsenic good arsenic imaginable unexpected conditions specified arsenic seismic enactment successful Santorini, which affected bookings earlier successful the year.

“The cruise interest was based connected assumptions that request to beryllium reviewed, arsenic it is not definite that the revenues volition beryllium directed to infrastructure projects – which are the main interest of the sector. Targeted concern successful larboard facilities, wrong the model of a nationalist strategical plan, is important for maintaining and strengthening the improvement way of cruises successful our country,” helium pointed out.

The Chief Operating Officer of Celestyal peculiarly highlights the request for the instauration of a nationalist strategical program for cruises, noting that without a wide program determination tin beryllium nary meaningful task readying oregon due utilization of resources. As helium emphasized, cruises attack dozens of Greek ports, astir of which deficiency the indispensable infrastructure.

Special notation was besides made of the larboard of Lavrion, characterizing it arsenic “an important alternate gateway, which tin run complementary to Piraeus, acknowledgment to its proximity to some the airdrome and the Cyclades”.

At the aforesaid time, the President of the Ports Regulatory Authority, Mr. Apostolos Papapostolou, stressed that investments successful ships cannot precede larboard infrastructure, portion helium underlined that determination is simply a important spread successful the mode larboard facilities are managed successful the country, explaining the request for a Unified Register of Port Facilities, coordination and a plan.

From the broadside of the PPA, Mr. Thanasis Karlis, Deputy Manager of the Marketing & Quality Control Department, pointed retired that this year’s cruise play is positive, portion an adjacent greater summation is expected, but with intelligibly much mean prospects. He stated that the challenges for Greek ports are galore and that connected the 1 manus caller disposable spaces are required, which are hard to find and to beryllium decently configured successful tenable clip intervals, connected the different manus a wide organization model that volition springiness organizations the accidental to utilize them instantly and effectively.

Finally, Mr. Ioannis Tsaras, CEO of the Thessaloniki Port Authority, noted that Thessaloniki has already made important steps successful the improvement of cruises, confirming the beardown involvement successful the portion and underlining the decisive relation that Celestyal played successful this process.