By Marine Reporter
Ahead of the busy 2013 cruise season, the Port of Cork today announced
details of their sister seaport agreement with PortMiami, the “Cruise
Capital of the World”. The sister seaport agreement will benefit the
Port of Cork and PortMiami in collaborating on the exchange of
information and ideas, with the intended aim of increasing both cargo
and cruise trade between ports.
The Port of Cork can learn a lot from PortMiami, particularly on
increasing the number of cruise calls to Cork. On average Port Miami
welcomes 4million cruise passengers annually and has seven cruise
terminals, while this year the Port of Cork will welcome 60 cruise
liners carrying in excess of 100,000 passengers and crew to the
region.
Over the last 10 years, the Port of Cork has invested €8 million in
upgrading and improving cruise facilities and this has made a major
impact on the number of calls, increasing from 35 in 2005 to 60 this
year. The Port of Cork has high aims to grow the number of cruise
calls to 80 over the next five years and to increase turn-around calls
and overnight stays. Learning from PortMiami and sharing knowledge and
industry information will assist the Port of Cork in achieving these
goals.
The cruise business in Cork is very important for the local economy
and increasing calls and overnight stays will help to generate further
revenue for the region.
While the Port of Cork looks forward to a busy cruise season in 2013,
Captain Michael McCarthy Port of Cork Commercial Manager says the
sister seaport agreement with Port Miami means a lot for the Port and
indeed Cork.
“We attended the largest ever cruise exhibition, Seatrade Miami
earlier this year and we were delighted to sign the sister seaport
agreement with PortMiami. The benefit of this mutual agreement means
we can benchmark our cruise business with PortMiami who have extensive
experience in operating cruise terminals. PortMiami is the “Cruise
Capital of the World” and they operate very successful turnaround
calls for most of the large cruise lines and this is something the
Port of Cork hopes to learn from in the future.”
Captain McCarthy continued: “In 2012 the Port of Cork had three
successful turnaround calls from Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and MSC
Cruises and we are aiming to extend this sector of the cruise
business.”
All cruise vessels that call to Cork are given a very special welcome
courtesy of CorkCruise, providing tourist representatives who go on
board each vessel, a display of traditional Irish dancing for
passengers and a fond farewell on the quayside with a performance by a
local brass band. These efforts do not go unnoticed by the passengers
and the cruise lines and in 2011 the Port of Cork was awarded two
Cruise Insight Awards for ‘Best Shore Side Welcome’ and ‘Best Tour
Guides’.
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