Departments

Japan welcomes 1,000,000th cruise passenger this year

Details

Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 10 December 2015 10 December 2015

Alan Lam reporting 

On 8 December, Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism (MLIT) together with Costa Asia celebrated the 1,000,000th cruise passenger to Japan in 2015 arriving onboard Costa Serena at Hakata Port.

The Ministry hosted a special ceremony to welcome Zhang Yifan and his family from Hangzhou, China, and Captain Giulio Valestra of Costa Serena, attended by a delegation of Japanese government officials. The event marked the first time one million cruise passengers had sailed into Japan within one calendar year.

Kiyoshi Ejima, Parliamentary Vice Minister of MLIT, and Soichiro Takashima, Mayor of Fukushima City, presided over the event at Hakata Port in Fukuoka.

“It’s wonderful that visitors have the opportunity to travel on a cruise liner around the Japan islands and to our port towns,” said Kiyoshi Ejima. “We had originally set a target of one million inbound visitors by 2020. So it is very exciting to see this target being met five years ahead of schedule.”

“Overseas visitors to Fukuoka make a major contribution to the local economy, said Soichiro Takashima. “The more lenient luggage allowance enjoyed by cruise passengers gives them free rein to shop as much as they like. We will continue to enhance our local infrastructures in order to ensure the best possible experience for both cruise passengers visiting Fukuoka and local residents. The opening of the new cruise centre this year has been a major advance in that direction and I’m excited to see what more we can achieve together.”

“My team and I are excited and honoured to send the first-ever 1,000,000th cruise ship passenger into Japan,” said Buhdy Bok, Costa Group Asia President. “This is a remarkable achievement for the Japanese tourism industry.”

 

In Japan this has been deemed as a “record-breaking milestone in Japanese tourism”.

 

In addition, Costa has also sharpened its focus on the Japanese source market. It has recently announced that it is to operate turnaround cruises out of Fukuoka, Maizuru and Kanazawa for Japanese guests in Summer 2016, using the 1996-built Costa Victoria.

St Lawrence River attracted 29 ships in 2015

Details

Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 03 December 2015 03 December 2015

The number of cruise liners that visited River St Lawrence in Canada amounted to 29 this year and they brought a total of 269,940 passengers to the region, said Cruise the St Lawrence, a marketing organisation for the region.

The number of turnaround passengers came to 115,427, with Quebec and Montreal as the principal ports.

The outlook for next year is encouraging as at least the same number of ships is expected, the organisation said in a statement.

Greenock cruise terminal to receive £14 million investment

Details

Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 01 December 2015 01 December 2015

Greenock cruise terminal on the Firth of Clyde on the west coast of Scotland will receive a £14 millin upgrade, which includes the introduction of a visitor centre.

The funding was announced on November 24 by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who was quoted by CruiseeCritic as saying: "The port at Greenock provides the gateway to Glasgow and the west coast of Scotland. This proposed investment in the ocean terminal would significantly expand cargo and cruise berthing facilities, creating and supporting local jobs."

Earlier this year, Greenock became the first Scottish port to receive more than 100,000 cruise passengers in a single year and welcomed the arrival of Queen Mary 2 as part of Cunard's 175th anniversary celebrations.

Speaking of the investment, Inverclyde Council Leader, Councillor Stephen McCabe, said: "With the expansion of the quayside and development of a new visitor facility, Greenock Ocean Terminal can continue to be a major economic and tourist boost locally in Inverclyde and in Scotland, CruiseCritic said.

Greenock mainly handles cruise calls, but Fred.Olsen Cruise Limes operate a number of turn arounds there as well each year.

Azamara Journey makes her first call in Huelva, Spain

Details

Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 29 November 2015 29 November 2015

The Azamara Journey of Azamara Cruises made Saturday its first call at the South Dock Port of Huelva from Gibraltar with around 1,000 passengers and crew onboard. The ship docked at South Quay on the 8.30 am and undocked at 10.00 pm for the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean, according to the company Bergé consignee.

The Port of Huelva offers passengers shuttle buses that connect the South Pier with the centre of the city, where visitors are welcomed near Parque de las Palomas.

The president of the Port Authority of Huelva, Manuela de Paz, said that the efforts of the port in promoting it for the cruise industry have produced good results: this year the port has received six calls and for 21 are expected next year.

de Paz has also stressed the coordination between different institutions, companies and business organisations at the workgroup Huelva Cruise Network in order to join efforts to provide quality services to visiting cruise passengers.The port also offers WiFi in the South Dock so that tourists and the ship's crew have wireless Internet access.

The Port of Huelva has promoted the creation of a large working group  called Huelva Cruise Cruise Network along with representatives of various business organisations, tourist companies, transport and trade, Huelva City Hall, the Tourist Board, Chamber of Commerce and Federation of Employers Huelva, consignees, shipping companies, guides, agents of the State Security Forces, Port Authority of Huelva and other institutions, among others, in order to create the brand Huelva and promote this destination as cruise vessels.