MedCruise participated in the first edition of the Adriatic Sea Forum which took place in Trieste Italy on March 21-22 2013. Among the more than 250 operators from Albania Croatia Greece Italy Montenegro and Slovenia MedCruise had a strong resence in the region with delegates from all the member ports from the Adriatic region.
MedCruise’s Vice President Bojan Babic (Koper) discussed the regions tariffs based on the Association’s recently produced study on Benchmarking of Port Fees and sent out the message on the importance to establish competitive fees.
The Association’s Secretary General Maria de Larratea participated in one of the Forum’s highlight which was a face to face debate with Robert Ashdown CLIA Europe’s Secretary General.
De Larratea stated: “The region really has no weak points. It offers fuel-efficient itineraries due to the short distances between the Adriatic ports. Many destinations are developing to adapt to the new industry needs. There are six countries in a small sea and this offers to the region a remarkable variety of culture and destinations.”
On the other side Ashdown explained that some of the reasons for the high growth of the region were the proximity to the central Europe market and remarked the presence of several main airports as well as the variety of new destination available to the cruise lines.
When asked what would their organizations would like to ask from each other Ashdown replied that ports in the region should turn their attention to providing better facilities for waste. De Larratea said that MedCruise is partner on a EU Life Project on Sustainable Cruise which will provide not only technical and geographical information about waste reception facilities existing in MedCruise Ports but also good practices guidelines to help all members reach the standards.
Added to the interventions of Bojan Babic and Maria de Larratea several MedCruise member ports also participated in different sessions including Kristijan Pavic (Dubrovnik) Roberto Perocchio (Venice) and Sergio Senesi (Cemar). MedCruise members were very satisfied with the results of this first forum focused on the Adriatic and expressed the intention to further continuing collaborating to strengthen the region’s potential adding value to the entire Mediterranean cruise sector.
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| Kristijan Pavic (Dubrovnik) and Roberto Perocchio (Venice) |
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Roberto Perocchio (first from the left) and Bojan Babic (second from the right) among other speakers discussing costs and taxes in the Adriatic region. |
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Robert Ashdown (left) and Maria de Larratea in a face to face session moderated by Francesco di Cesare (right). |
