Monday morning March 25th, AIDA Cruises’ AIDAstella arrived in the port of Zeebrugge. She was the first cruise ship of the new season to call on Zeebrugge. In 2013, Zeebrugge will receive over 110 cruise ships.
The port of Zeebrugge is the largest cruise port in Flanders. With over 91 cruise calls and 333.000 cruise passengers, 2012 was a record year. The new season, will be even better. Already 110 cruise ships have announced a visit to Belgium’s coastal port. Zeebrugge provides the quickest access to the many historical cities in Belgium: Bruges foremost but also Ghent, Antwerp and Belgium’s capital Brussels. Another major tourist attraction are the battlefields of 1914-1918 and the many commemorative events surrounding the centenary of the Great War.
The steep rise of Zeebrugge as a transit port demonstrates that complete co-operation within the port and a forward thinking management working with the local tour operator can bring success. Bob Harrison, who has been marketing the port of Zeebrugge for the past 3 years is pleased that his hard work is now showing results and with the new cruise terminal planned to be ready for business in 2015 the future for the port of Zeebrugge is looking very bright.
"We are listening to what the market is saying. Cruising in Northwest Europe is becoming increasingly popular but the industry is also faced with new challenges and is looking to reduce costs whilst offering more choice to the passengers. Zeebrugge fits the picture. We want to improve our service level to the lines and their guests by offering turnarounds from our new terminal building. We have the transport infrastructure and the hotel accommodation. We can do it."