Cruise Tourism: Thessaloniki is Open For Business

Port of Thessaloniki. Photo source: Posidonia Exhibitions

With a new cruise terminal in the works and expected to operate in June, Thessaloniki is “open for business”, the governor of Central Macedonia, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said during the recent 7th Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum.

The largest international event of the cruise sector in the Mediterranean, the forum was hosted in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second biggest city, for the first time since its inception.

During a speech to representatives of the international cruise industry, Governor Tzitzikostas underlined the strategic position of Thessaloniki as a cruise destination and referred to the upgrading of the city’s infrastructure at the ThPA SA – Port of Thessaloniki (a new cruise terminal will open in June) and the Makedonia Airport to facilitate travelers.

“Thessaloniki is open for business… Anyone who invests in the city today will realize in a year or two that they have made the best business decision,” Tzitzikostas said.

Central Macedonia Governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas. Photo © Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

The governor highlighted that Thessaloniki in 2022 achieved its best performance ever in cruising with 61 port calls by cruise ships (most were homeporting – i.e. turnaround port for roundtrip itineraries), a number up by 200 percent compared to the previous year.

“We are optimistic that cruising will grow further… Tourism revenue from our traditional markets, such as Germany and the UK, increased by 15 percent, while investment in tourism infrastructure doubled,” Tzitzikostas said.

It is noted that cruise activity in Thessaloniki began to show an upward trend since last year with the city increasingly being included in itineraries.

70,000 cruise passengers expected

The importance of Thessaloniki’s entrance in the cruise tourism market was also highlighted by the city’s mayor, Konstantinos Zervas.

Thessaloniki Mayor Konstantinos Zervas. Photo © Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

“Today, we are at the beginning of a new era of cruise industry in our homeport, in Thessaloniki,” the mayor said, adding that the dynamic growth of cruise tourism in the Greek northern city is expected to continue.

“Leading cruise companies have included the destination in their itineraries… Compared to 2022, currently five additional cruise lines have placed Thessaloniki on their destination map,” he said, adding that more than 70,000 cruise passengers are expected in Thessaloniki this year, compared to 40,000 last year.

“This is an actual vote of confidence for the city, which is dynamically re-entering the world map of cruising,” Zervas said.

69 cruise ships to dock this year in Thessaloniki

On his part, ThPA SA – Port of Thessaloniki Executive Chairman Thanos Liagkos said Thessaloniki this year will see “spectacular growth” in cruises, with 69 port calls to be made by cruise ships, half of which will use the port as a homeport (turnaround port for roundtrip itineraries).

Thanos Liagkos, Executive Chairman of the BoD & Managing Director, ThPA SA – Port of Thessaloniki. Photo © Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

Liagkos added that the port authority of Thessaloniki is constantly upgrading its infrastructure and quality of offered services to further develop its tourism product and become more competitive for international travelers.

“We at the Port of Thessaloniki are aiming to attract more cruise ships to the city’s port and contribute to the upgrading of Greek tourism, as the cruise sector is directly linked to the country’s tourism development,” Liagkos said.

200 cruise ship arrivals expected in next two years,
Crystal Cruises to homeport in 2025

Minas Papadakis, Chief Executive Officer, Heraklion Port Authority; Aziz Gungor, East Med Ports Regional Director, Global Ports Holding PLC & General Manager, Kusadasi Cruise Port; Nicholas Pagonis, Vice President, Global Marine Operations, Global Fleet Management, DPA TUI Cruises & Hapag Lloyd Cruises, Royal Caribbean Group Ltd; Spyros Almpertis, Vice President, Port Operations, Itinerary Planning and Fuel Management, Crystal Cruises; and Theodora Riga, Chief Commercial Officer & Director of Strategic Communications, ThPA SA – Port of Thessaloniki. Photo © Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

During a panel discussion at the forum, representatives of leading cruise companies agreed that Thessaloniki has all the potential to receive up to 200 cruise ship calls – from the 69 expected in 2023 – in the next two years.

More specifically, as assessed by Global Ports Holding PLC’s representative, Aziz Gungor (East Med Ports Regional Director); Crystal Cruises’ Spyros Almpertis (Vice President, Port Operations, Itinerary Planning); and Royal Caribbean Group’s Nicholas Pagonis (Vice President, Global Marine Operation), Thessaloniki will see cruise ship arrivals in the next two years increase significantly, almost double compared to those of 2023, reaching 150-200.

Spyros Almpertis, Vice President, Port Operations, Itinerary Planning and Fuel Management, Crystal Cruises. Photo © Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

During the discussion, Almpertis from Crystal Cruises announced that the company plans to add Thessaloniki as a port of call in 2024. He also revealed that Thessaloniki from 2025 will be a port of embarkation (homeport) for the company’s cruises in the Mediterranean.

“We would like to have a new unique destination, which will give something exceptional to Crystal Cruises… Crystal will definitely support Thessaloniki,” Almpertis said.

New cruise terminal to operate in June

“Obviously, our goal is 200 cruise ship arrivals per year, but for us the most important thing is not the quantity but the quality,” according to Theodora Riga, Chief Commercial Officer & Director of Strategic Communications, ThPA SA – Port of Thessaloniki.

Theodora Riga, Chief Commercial Officer & Director of Strategic Communications, ThPA SA – Port of Thessaloniki. Photo © Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

During the panel discussion, Riga announced that the ThPA SA – Port of Thessaloniki in June will operate a new cruise terminal, housed in the port’s old warehouse 8 following a full revamp. The new terminal will include two berths, 9 and 10. Berth 9 (intra-Schengen) will receive its first cruise ship on June 4. Berth 10 (non-Schengen) is expected to operate as of June 18. With an overall length of 320 meters and 9.5 meters of draft, berth 10 will be in the position to serve any cruise vessel size from around the world.

ThPA’s new cruise terminal will operate alongside the old “Macedonia” passenger terminal housed on the ground section of a neoclassical building. After the summer, the “Macedonia” terminal will close for renovation under a budget of some 20 million euros.

Held by Posidonia Exhibitions S.A., the 7th Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum ran between April 25-26 and welcomed over 40 exhibitors and 60 high-profile speakers who discussed the challenges the industry is currently facing.

The Greek Travel Pages (GTP) was a media sponsor of the Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum 2023.