Cruise: Data show recovery – Towards an 80% increase in arrivals in Souda

The cruise industry in Greece is in full recovery after the two years of the pandemic as the data so far “show”, according to the general secretary of EOT, Dimitris Fraggakis, who today had a working meeting with the president of the Port Fund of Chania, Dimitris Virirakis, the deputy of Tourism, Nektarios Psaroudakis, executives of the Port Fund and representatives of local tourism agencies.

In Souda

Mr. Fraggakis, referring specifically to the port of Souda, stated that, according to the data available so far, in Souda is expected an increase of 80% in ships and 60% in passenger occupancy compared to last year. According to Mr. Fraggakis, “as in the part of air arrivals, so we will have a good year in the part of cruise arrivals”.

In the meeting of the general secretary of EOT with the president of the Port Fund, the course of the projects that are in progress in the ports of the region of Chania, the course of the studies for development of port infrastructure, as well as the perspective of creating tourist marinas in the port of Souda were discussed, in the city of Chania, near the coast between Nea Chora and the Venetian Port.

Coastal erosion

Another issue discussed was that of coastal erosion within the boundaries of the Municipality of Chania as well as the gulf of Chania in the northern part of the prefecture. For this issue, as said by the deputy mayor of Chania Nectarios Psaroudakis, interventions have been launched regarding areas of the municipality where the biggest problem occurs.

Marinas

For his part, the President of the Port Fund Dimitris Virirakis stressed the need to create marinas in Chania, in addition to the one that already exists in the Venetian Port, noting that the creation of marinas creates significant development prospects for the region. In the meeting with Mr. Fraggakis, the president of the Port Fund also raised the issue of speeding up the procedures for approval of the environmental studies required for port projects.