Cruise Tourism: Ministry Aims to Boost Greece’s Home Port Potential

One of the Greek Tourism Ministry’s main priorities is to boost Greece’s home port potential to support the country’s cruise tourism, according to Greek Tourism Secretary General Konstantinos Loulis.

Speaking during the Next is Now tourism forum in Athens on Thursday, Loulis underlined that establishing Greece as a home port destination would significantly contribute to the country achieving better economic and social performance, as is the case with Greece’s main competitors.

“Our goal is reach 5,000 cruise ship arrivals and 3,500,000 passengers by 2023,” the secretary general said, also referring to the need for improved infrastructure and better management of Greek ports to make them more competitive.

In regards to marinas, Loulis stressed that the ministry’s plans include upgrading existing marinas and creating new ones. He underlined that the strategy of the government is to impose less state-owned models in order to attract private investment for port infrastructure.

Moreover, he highlighted that developing a diversified tourism product and promoting the “Blue Economy” model is another strategic priority for the ministry.

The Next is Now forum was organized by enikonomia.gr and held under the auspices of the Tourism Ministry, the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) and the Region of Attica.