Greek Cruise Industry Growth Hampered

A Posidonia 2012 Forum in Athens discussed challenges to growth of the cruise sector in Greece, debated solutions

The 2nd Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum was opened by Theodoros Vokos on behalf of the organizers. He said: “In the year which elapsed between the inaugural event and this year’s forum, we have seen some progress in the form of  the partial lifting of cabotage and the good intentions of the government and the bodies and associations who are actively involved in the Greek cruise sector. However we still have a long way to go ..."

The Minister of Development Competitiveness and Shipping, heads of international cruise sector bodies, senior officials from Greece’s port authorities and representatives from a wide spectrum of the cruising industry agreed that state protectionism is a stumbling block that discourages the potential growth of the country’s sea tourism.

They were addressing an audience of 200 cruise industry professionals who attended the 2nd Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum held recently at the sidelines of Posidonia 2012.

The forum discussed the challenges that prohibit further growth of the cruise sector in Greece and debated a number of proposed solutions and recommendations that could fuel progress. The stringent and antiquated legislative framework, lack of modern and adequate infrastructure, issues with berth allocations, high and unstructured fees and charges and the lack of a common cruise port policy were high in the list of problems facing Greece’s cruise industry.