Italy was the first European country to welcome back big ship cruising after the lockdown in 2020.
Last year, despite the pandemic, 2.6m passengers visited the country according to research conducted by Risposte Turismo. This year cruise traffic is expected to ramp up as Italy continues to work to reach pre-pandemic numbers.
Debuts at Roma Cruise Terminal
Leading Italian cruise port Civitavecchia is expecting to welcome 1.5m cruise passengers this year through Roma Cruise Terminal’s facilities and, according to General Manager John Portelli, ‘the first three months of the year have been encouraging and in line with our estimates. The quay requests and type of operation for 2023 are in line with those of 2019. These two factors provide us with a sense of optimism for the future.’
In 2022, Roma Cruise Terminal will welcome maiden calls from Emerald Azzurra, Wonder of the Seas, Costa Toscana, Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Beyond, Evrima, Viking Mars, Viking Neptune, MSC Seascape and Norwegian Escape, he informed Seatrade.
RCT has also submitted the preliminary designs of a new cruise terminal to the Port Authority and Portelli said construction is expected to commence in 2024 and be completed in 2025.
New in La Spezia
Another participant at the Cruise Italy booth is Spezia & Carraca Cruise Terminal (SCCT), a new company in the Liguria region.
SCCT was established in December 2019 but due to the pandemic was not able to operate. Now it has started up with a partially new management – the general manager comes from the container and freight terminal sector – and hoping to recover to pre-pandemic numbers and turnover by 2023.
GM Daniele Ciulli said the company, along with everyone in Italy’s cruise community, is expecting further recovery this year, ‘however we do have to consider the effects of the Ukraine conflict so let’s say that a good result would be between 400,000 and 550,000 passengers in 2022.'
Evergreen destination
Ciulli shared, ‘in my opinion, Italy, as a tourist destination, has to be considered as an evergreen.
‘Historic cities like Rome, Venice, Florence and Pisa will never go out of style, and cruise ships cannot do without having them as destinations. La Spezia and Carrara are lucky from a logistic point of view, because it allows cruise passengers to easily reach Florence, Pisa, Lucca as well as the natural paradise of the Cinque Terre, enabling us to maintain our market share and try to increase it in the near future.’
A new cruise terminal is planned to open in 2027.
Infrastructure expansion
Many Italian ports are investing to expand their services and infrastructure. ‘A country that for three quarters of its territory overlooks the sea cannot avoid this undertaking,’ noted Anna Rita Secchi, PR and marketing for Salerno Cruises.
In the Port of Salerno, on the Amalfi coast, dredging work at Molo Manfredi, an exclusive pier for cruise ships, is completed and now offers 11mtr depth alongside. Work on Piazza della Libertà has been completed, so independent guests can reach the city center in 15 minutes using the promenade beside the sea and the city has created tourist information points and worked to ensure museums are open seven days a week.
Cruise Italy lineup
Representatives from the following companies are part of the Cruise Italy delegation at Seatrade Cruise Global:
- CFFT
- Hugo Trumpy and Sanremo Port
- Italian Travel Consultant
- MCT - Messina Cruise Terminal
- Porto di Livorno 2000
- RCCP - Ravenna Civitas Cruise Port
- Roma Cruise Terminal
- Salerno Cruises
- Spezia & Carrara Cruise Terminal
- Terminal Napoli
- The Central Northern Adriatic Port Authority (Ravenna)
- The Central Northern Tyrrhenian Port Authority (Civitavecchia, Gaeta and Fiumicino)
Seatrade Cruise Global is set for April 25-28 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The full conference program is detailed here. Registration is available here.
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