Sea Tourism

Superfast Ferries recently invited several port agents on a three-day familiarization trip to Italy. The group, made up of company executives from several departments and Adriatic coast port agents from Patra, Igoumenitsa, Corfu, Bari and Ancona, boarded Superfast V for Bari.

After a successful launch in the summer of 2007, easyCruise inaugurated its second and larger ship to join the easyCruise fleet for a seven-day cruise to the Greek Islands and Turkey.

The Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature—Blue Flag coordinators for Greece—announced a steady increase in Greek Blue Flag beaches with 430 in 2008 compared with 428 in 2007 and 411 in 2006.

The Louis Group recently purchased two new cruise ships, “Norwegian Majesty” and “Norwegian Dream” for the fleet of Louis Cruise Lines. The group invested 249 million euros in its plans to renew its fleet. It purchased the two cruise ships from Star Cruises at 143 million euros for the “Norwegian Dream” and 106 million euros for the “Norwegian Majesty.”

The route Heraklion to Piraeus, now some six hours by high-speed ferry, could be done in one hour and 36 minutes by the end of 2008 with the new hovercrafts that can reach 200 kilometers an hour and can ‘fly’ some 12 meters above the sea.

Blue Star Ferries targeted the local communities of the Aegean islands as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility program by supporting the non-profit cultural organization “Diadrasi” in the program “Agoni Grammi Gonimi 2008.”

Minister of Mercantile Marine, the Aegean and Island Policy George Voulgarakis recently met with President of the Hellenic Professional Yacht Owners Association (HPYOA) Antonis Steliatos to discuss topics concerning the sector and specifically, the development of nautical tourism with professional yachts.

New seaplane carrier Argo Airways (a member of Kanapitsa Group) is expected to commence twice daily flights from the port of Volos to Athen’s Flisvos Marina this month and extend its routes to Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonissos and Thessaloniki later in the summer.

The European Cruise Council (ECC) and MedCruise recently announced the cruise industry now accounts for more than a quarter of a million jobs in Europe, over 10 billion euros direct expenditure and 15 million visits to European ports, Greece’s ports being the third most popular cruise destination.

Blue Star Ferries’ corporate social responsibility program for 2007-2008 focused once again on the youth of the islands served by company vessels and inspired by the Aegean Sea. In early 2007, Blue Star Ferries announced a School Competition divided in two sections—one of creative writing and the other of visual arts— entitled “Aegean – O Mikros Naftilos” and based on the work of world-renowned poet Odysseus Elytis. The competition targeted students from high schools in the Cyclades and the Dodekanissos islands and was aimed at giving young people the chance to express themselves and show their creativity in a theme that was familiar to them.