Upon returning from the Cruise Shipping event in Miami*, the world’s largest cruise tourism event, the French Riviera Cruise Club, a joint structure between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Regional Tourism Committee, which manages the Riviera ports of Villefranche, Nice, Antibes, and Cannes, presented the results of the past year and especially the prospects for this year.
Well, despite the bleak economic conditions and the structural conditions of the ports, which do not meet international standards especially concerning the conditions for welcoming ‘turnaround’ guestsยฐ, all indicators are positive and the sector enjoys, both globally and locally, excellent health and more than encouraging forecasts for this year and the years to come.
For Bernard Kleynhoff, president of the consular chamber: “Tourism is one of the pillars of our economy. This sector has shown steady growth for 30 years and in terms of occupancy, outweighs the automobile industry.”
These remarks were followed by those of Alain Gumiel, the president of the CRT, who confirmed: “Cruising is the future: More than 80,000 French people are cruisers, which is a huge potential on the national market. But our attention must also focus on an international clientele, and for this, we all need to make efforts to welcome cruisers in the best conditions to maximize economic benefits. The Mediterranean is the second destination worldwide, and we must face new and aggressive Asian competition.”
Some figures:
2013 Projections: 20.97 million cruisers (+3.3), of which 481,000 are French (+9%)
685,000 will be the passengers making a stopover at Riviera ports for 350 stopovers
Expenditures: 40 million euros is the revenue for merchants and hoteliers for 2012
