Insider Says Greece Cruise Traffic to Shrink Next Year

Cruise traffic in Greece is expected to decline by 30 percent in 2017 resulting in fewer tourists and dwindling tourism revenues, according to Andreas Stylianopoulos, responsible for cruise travel at the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE).

Stylianopoulos, who is also CEO of Navigator Travel & Tourist Services Ltd, representing Royal Caribbean Cruises, is ringing alarm bells, citing the dwindling number of itineraries planned by international cruise companies to Greece in 2017, and which he said have been limited to the Western Coast of Greece, Piraeus and the Saronic Gulf, the Cyclades, Crete and the southern Dodecanese. Stylianopoulos underlined that it is due to three or four high-interest Greek destinations that Greek cruise travel is still afloat.

He notes that 2018 may see things change if cruise companies push ahead with specialized marketing programs and alternative activities adding that Cosco’s recent decision to focus on increasing cruise traffic as a sign in the positive direction.