NEWS CONFERENCE REPORT
Clia Cruise 360 Conference: Clia held a Cruise360 event in Europe for the first time last weekend. Lucy Huxley and Jane Archer report from Copenhagen
Clia’s Andy Harmer on stage with Travel Weekly’s Lucy Huxley
Delegates on board Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess
Clia Europe boss: Cruise is scapegoat for eco issues
The cruise industry is a “convenient scapegoat” for media focus on environmental issues and overcrowding in tourist destinations, according to the boss of Clia Europe.
Speaking at the association’s
first Cruise360 conference in Copenhagen at the weekend, Kerry Anastassiadis said: “We pay the price of being so obvious and as a result we get disproportionate attention. “This doesn’t absolve us. There
are solutions to everything, but the cruise sector is not solely to blame
and we are doing a lot of work to mitigate issues that people have no idea about.” Responding to criticism
that cruising is a key source of overtourism in places such as Dubrovnik, Santorini and Venice, Anastassiadis, the boss
“Don’t blame us when we’re leading the change to make ships more energy efficient”
of Celestyal Cruises, said: “Of the 1.3 billion tourists worldwide, only 25 million take a cruise, so we can’t be the drivers of congestion. It’s just cruise visitors are quite concentrated in ports – maybe for three or four hours – compared with other tourists, so more needs to be done to better spread these visits over time so it’s much smoother in terms of our guests being absorbed into the total numbers,” he said. He said the development of
ON STAGE: Clia’s Kerry Anastassiadis is interviewed by Travel Weekly editor Lucy Huxley
16
travelweekly.co.uk 14 September 2017
new destinations would also help reduce the concentration on certain ports. “Of the 350 members of MedCruise, only about 100 ports are used currently, so there is huge potential to spread tourists out better,” said Anastassiadis. Commenting on the cruise industry’s environmental record, he said: “Critics always compare cruise ships to cars, but really, they should compare us to small cities – and our water purification and management, and our rubbish recycling are better than most.” Anastassiadis added that the
Northeast Passage to be ‘next big thing’
The Northeast Passage – across the Arctic Ocean along the coasts of Norway and Russia – was tipped as the next go-to destination for expedition cruising by Seabourn. Robin West, the line’s senior manager for expedition operations and planning, said: “Everyone wants to go to the polar regions, but Iceland is seeing a surge in tourism. The Northwest Passage has opened up, and soon it will be the Northeast Passage.” He said luxury lines such as Seabourn were tapping in to demand to visit remote destinations such as the Arctic and Antarctica without compromising on luxury.
cruise sector had driven the development of liquefied natural gas engines to propel its ships, and warned: “Don’t blame us when we’re leading the change to make these more energy efficient with our money. We’re doing our bit, so where are the other people doing theirs? I’m not trying to deflect our responsibility, but it’s a chain reaction – a whole cycle that requires us to work in collaboration to move forward.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96
