Sea Tourism

In order to promote its Mediterranean cruise program with its the new cruise vessel, Emerald Princess, the company’s owner, California-based Princess Cruises, selected the port of Piraeus for the ship’s christening.

The vision of traveling by hydroplane has again become a reality as Airsea Lines recently begun its routes to nine Cycladic islands daily from the port of Lavrio. In its first phase, the hydro-port of Lavrio services passengers to and from Kalymnos with daily flights and as peak season approaches the routes will extend to Ios, Tinos, Patmos, Amorgos, Paros, Myconos, Santorini and Andros.

Louis Hellenic Cruises officially announced the hoisting of the Greek flag on the Calypso, the fifth cruise ship of their fleet to have such a distinction. The 135-meter-long Calypso, fully renovated in 1994, has 243 cabins, which enables it to serve and host 740 passengers.

The general secretary of the National Statistics Service of Greece recently announced a decrease in port traffic for the third quarter of 2006 in comparison with the same period in 2005. These results refer to the movement of passengers, commerce and mobile units in Greek ports serviced by domestic and international ships during this period.

Tourism Development Minister Fanni Palli-Petralia praised the efforts of locals, crew members and government agencies on the evacuation of but two of the 1,156 cruise passengers aboard the Sea Diamond that sank off Santorini last month.

With numerous successes under its belt in organizing various boat races, the island of Corfu on June 16 once again takes on the task of organizing and presenting the Panhellenic Inflatable Boat Races.

Bids by five companies/consortiums to enter the final phase of the tender for the Aghios Kosmas Marina were opened last month at the office of state-owned Olympic Properties. The best offer tabled in the tender, according to press reports, includes an offer to lease the property for an annual fee of 14.3 million euros. The lease is set for a period of 45 years.

Greece’s many advantages in the area of marine tourism have not been taken advantage of, nor used to their full potential, according to Antonis Stelliatos, the newly elected president of the Hellenic Professional Yacht Owners Association.

Americans bombard their travel agents for prices on cruises in Europe, including the Greek Islands. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) says that Europe will be on the cruise map this year.

Tourism and shipping industry speakers said Greek passenger ferries and dozens of popular Aegean island ports must urgently improve if this Mediterranean country is to continue to see strong increases in tourism arrivals. At a recent press call to announce the conclusions of last month’s ‘Coastal Shipping Forum’ held in Piraeus, the speakers emphasized the need for early ship schedules.