South Aegean Region Laying Out Plans for Rhodes Cruise Tourism

The South Aegean Region and Rhodes authorities met this week to discuss the challenges and lay out the framework of operations to boost cruise tourism to the island under the EU’s SIROCCO research program.

The aim is through a series of new research tools to gain greater insight into the issues affecting marine tourism and the ways to address these issues in collaboration with SIROCCO project partners from other EU ports including Rome, Split (Croatia), Larnaca and Valencia.

Lindos on Rhodes.

In the meantime, a survey explored the economic, environmental and social impact of cruise tourism on the said ports with the goal to draw up an action plan for the coming years.

A workshop on Thursday presented data collected on cruise industry trends and challenges at cruise ports, and offered a ground for discussion on how local authorities can implement targeted actions in cooperation with other countries to address these.

The event was attended by Vice Governor of Tourism, Marietta Papavasileiou, Deputy Rhodes Mayor Mariza Chatzilazarou, as well as representatives from of the port authority and harbor police, local tour operators involved in cruise tourism and hosted partners.