John Pagni reports

The concession contract for the development, construction and operation of a new cruise terminal in Dubrovnik was announced on mid-February. State-owned Dubrovnik Port Authority has granted a 40-year concession to Dubrovnik International Cruise Port Investment, jointly-owned by Turkey's Global Port Holdings and Bouygues Batiment International, part of the French construction giant.

Work will begin in the Gruz area of Dubrovnik port, adjacent to the DPA's office building, in September-October this year and is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2018 at a cost of around $100 million CBR has found out. In return, DICPI's partners will get a 40-year concession.

DIPCI for its part will remove existing buildings including a large supermarket and clear the area to construct a modern cruise terminal, multi-storey garage and Dubrovnik's international bus station in Gruz, which is in the heart of the port area and just three kilometres from Dubrovnik's main attraction: the UNESCO World Heritage Site Old Town. As the statement pointed out "Due to its high potential and strategic location as the only plot available in the central city area, the project's has attracted interest from several major international and local banks" and will have no problem raising the required finance.

Dubrovnik is rated a must-see 'Marquee Port' with around 600 calls a year bringing 860,000 passengers last year and is ranked 10th in the world and third in the Mediterranean in cruise turnaround numbers. This development is also hand-in-hand with similar projects to raise capacity at Dubrovnik Airport and build a a highway between it and the city, which will raise cruise numbers in the future.

GPH CEO Saygin Narin said "Our main goal is to support sustainability of Dubrovnik by creating a second attraction after the Old Town and reduce congestion, particularly in the high season.. The project will contribute to this as it includes the garage and a cruise sightseeing bus park."

Dubrovnik will be GPH's tenth cruise port/terminal operation in addition to those in Barcelona and Malaga (both Spain); Lisbon (Portugal); Akdeniz-Antalya, Bodrum and Ege Ports-Kusadasi (Turkey); Adria-Bar (Montenegro); Valetta (Malta); and Singapore. It estimates that in 2016, it will handle over 5 million passengers yearly corresponding to about 19% of the Mediterranean cruise market and the top rank in that area.

Victor Stefanescu, BBI's Southern Europe Director said "State and city partners will help us to revitalize this new part of the city giving a strong impulse to for the development of the Pearl of the Adriatic (as Dubrovnik is known and marketed as).