The ports of Vigo and Lisbon are about to sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the coming days with the aim of attracting more cruise calls. Alan Lam reports.
Lisbon, Europe’s foremost Atlantic cruise port, receivesmore than half of a million cruise passengers a year. The cooperation may seem one-sided, more beneficial to the smaller partner, Vigo. But Vigo, the premier northern Spanish port, has been attracting mega cruise calls in recent months, among them Oasis of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas and Norwegian Epic have all called at this port.In October alone, 61,600 cruise passengers went ashore at Vigo.
This partnership will make a good deal of sense as, according to its president, Ignacio López Chaves, more than 70% of cruise ships calling at Vigo originated from or destined for Lisbon and about 20% of cruise ships calling at Lisbon originated from or destined for Vigo.
The forthcoming cooperation aims at presenting a unified product to cruise operators through information sharing and mutual promotion.