The Institutional Cruise Board meets to monitor the season’s activity

The first of the 9 planned MSC Cruises stopovers arrives at Port Tarragona

Global Ports Holding officially joins the Cruise Board to work with territorial representatives in developing the cruise activity

Since the cruise season began last April, ten cruise ships with approximately 12,000 passengers have docked

This Thursday 14 July, in the Roger de Llúria room of the Port of Tarragona headquarters, the institutional and business representatives who make up the Institutional Cruise Board met in person with the aim of assessing the cruise activity and the evolution of the 2022 season to date. The Board consists of the territory’s main tourism-linked institutions and companies. It has now officially been joined by Global Ports Holdings (GPH), the company that has held the Port of Tarragona cruise terminal concession since last February.

The meeting was attended by Josep M Cruset, President of the Tarragona Port Authority; Meritxell Roigé, President of the Costa Daurada Tourism Board; Víctor Franquet, Managing Director of the Tarragona Tourism Board; Montserrat Caelles, Reus Town Councillor for Promotion; Pere Segura, Mayor of Vila-seca, Laura Roigé , President of the Tarragona Chamber of Commerce, Daniel Martín, Managing Director of the Tarragona Chamber of Commerce; Alba Colet of Global Ports Holding; Salvador Anton, Scientific Director of the Tourism Department-Eurecat; and Xavier Jornet of AEHT. The Port of Tarragona was also represented by Genoveva Climent, Director of Sales and Business Development; Marta Virgili, Head of Institutional Relations; and Tana Corral, Commercial Manager.

The members of the Institutional Board met to discuss the figures and estimates for the 2022 cruise season that began last April. So far this season the Port of Tarragona has hosted a dozen cruises with approximately 12,000 passengers from different international origins. Port Tarragona’s forecasts at the start of the season were for some 38 stopovers with between 55,000 and 60,000 passengers. This figure was positively assessed in March and described as a "return to normalcy", despite being far from the figure reached in 2019 (128,000 passengers).

Today's meeting also served to review these forecasts, which are currently maintained at 38 stopovers, although with an increase in the estimated number of passengers to approximately 70,000, due mainly to the incorporation of 8 new calls by MSC Cruises. These are in addition to that already planned, making a total of 9 calls this season in the Port of Tarragona by this major cruise company.

The first MSC Cruises liner arrives on Sunday

This Sunday July 17 at 7 am, the cruise liner MSC Bellíssima will dock at the Moll de Balears in the Port of Tarragona, the first of the 9 stopovers the company’s liners will make in Tarragona this year. The vessel will stay for 12 hours until approximately 7 pm, when it will set sail for Genoa. This is the

first of the 8 new calls programmed for 2022, in addition to the stopover of the MSC Magnifica already scheduled for November 11.

MSC Bellíssima is a cruise liner belonging to MSC Cruises with a length of 315 metres, 171,589 gross tonnage and a capacity of 5,686 passengers. Its stopover in Tarragona will involve embarkation and partial disembarkation. In other words, in addition to the 4,000 passengers in transit, who will be able to visit the city, it is expected that approximately 300 passengers will embark and some 400 will disembark.

The MSC Bellíssima sailed from Valencia and, after its stopover in Tarragona, it will continue to the Italian ports of Genoa, Livorno and Naples. It will return to Tarragona on Sundays 31 July, 21 August, 4 and 25 September, and 9, 16 and 23 October. MSC has a ninth stopover already scheduled for Friday November 11, although on that occasion with the vessel MSC Magnificent.

Cruise liners in Port Tarragona

The Port of Tarragona is developing a unique cruise project in cooperation with the representatives of the Camp de Tarragona region and the Costa Daurada. The Institutional Cruise Board is the collaborative space in which local institutions, administrations, companies and universities cooperate to develop a sustainable cruise model. It is a cruise project that has been drawn up from the outset to diversify visits throughout the territory and not focus on a single destination or city. In this way, from the moment the tourist destination is marketed and the excursions are offered, cruise passengers can opt for multiple destinations that cover the entire Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre, including the Conca de Barberà, Priorat and Terres de l'Ebre regions and the cities and towns of Tarragona, Reus or Vila-seca.

Global Ports Holding, the Port of Tarragona cruise terminal concessionaire, has joined the Board to coordinate the development of this Tarragona cruise model based on the “territorial capillarity” of cruise tourism with the territory’s main institutions. It promotes simultaneous offers of local tourism experiences in multiple locations, thus enhancing knowledge of their historical heritage, landscape and gastronomy. This also has the advantage of minimising the concentration of tourists in any one place.

In addition, Global Ports will build a new cruise terminal on the Balears Wharf that is due to come into operation in autumn 2023. The terminal involves an investment of 5.5 million euros in a state-of-the-art building that will be constructed using an innovative industrial architecture technique, incorporating sustainability and energy efficiency criteria. GPH officials have explained that the terminal will also be able to host large-format events outside the cruise season.

MSC has added Tarragona to its itineraries. The company’s reputation and experience have positioned it as the third largest cruise line in the world, as well as a leader in Europe, South America, the Gulf region and South Africa. It should also be noted that it is the fastest growing global cruise brand with a strong presence in the Caribbean, North American and Far Eastern markets.