Project to promote cruise traffic in the ports of Puglia

The aim is to enhance maritime transport and cross-border connectivity by supporting development and activities of smaller ports by incorporating them into the routes cross-border and regional and directing passenger traffic, in small cruises and maxi yachts, to territories not yet exploited from the point of view of cruise tourism strengthening, at the same time, connections to ports Main.

Those involved as partners are: the Port System of the South Adriatic Sea, the Municipality of Gallipoli, the Port Authority of Corfu, the Chamber of Trade in Bari and the Municipality of Paxos, Greece. Specifically then, the municipalities of Barletta, Monopoly and Toast, and indirectly also the municipalities of Bari and Manfredonia, under the leadership of the ADSP Adriatic, are carrying out a campaign to territorial marketing aimed at promoting the Themis brand connecting it to local peculiarities and involving businesses in their territory. Union cameras, on the other hand, is tasked with support incoming, outgoing and training activities head of the Bari Chamber of Commerce.

In addition, to make the offer even more palatable, light infrastructure works are being built to ports operated by the AdSP (Manfredonia, Barletta, Monopoly), Gallipoli and the port of Gaios (Paxos) welcome passengers. The works will be carried out by first quarter 2021 so that we are ready for the next Season.

In order to achieve these objectives, we started international analysis of the demand for tourist services Territory of Puglia aimed at identifying a specific market potential investors, and then work on creating some package tours designed and themed according to the analysis incoming activities of tourist buyers linked to the cruise tourism. We are now proceeding with the promotion international package tours and related opportunities planning new landings at the project's ports, in especially for small cruises and maxi yachts, and creating a common brand to identify the territories involved. Meanwhile, port staff, in order to improve the level of services will be involved in specific training courses.
"Our challenge- explained the President of the Authority Port System of the South Adriatic Sea, Ugo Patroni Griffi - is to offer certainties and services, investments and new proposals, especially at this delicate stage that we are experiencing as a result of the very heavy repercussions Covid emergency. A cyclical economy, such as that of cruises, and more generally shipping, produces significant positive effects not only on the port but also on macro-areas surrounding territories. We're talking about an economic flow that is recorded every time a ship approaches a passengers go down for excursions or overnight stays. The our ports, due to geographical conformation and peculiarities of services, fully meet the ever-increasing demand from the airlines: the multi-destination cruise. Through Themis we aim to incentivise the cruise industry, in particular luxury cruises, the fastest growing segment tourism."