English
As one of the most active European cruise ports, the Freeport of Riga has been involved in the project “Green Cruise Port - Sustainable Development of Cruise Port Locations”. The project is financed by the European Regional Development Fund and aims to foster cooperation between cruise ports with the aim to address the issues at stake, as well as to promote sustainability of all the ports involved in the project and their qualitative development. On June 6 and 7 the project Steering Committee meeting took place in Bergen (Norway), where the Freeport of Riga Authority was represented by Marketing Department cruise traffic expert Ms.Laura Apoga.
Cruise tourism is one of the world's fastest growing tourism segments. Last year the number of cruise passengers at the port of Riga increased by 13.7%. The constant increase of the size of cruise ships and growing passenger comfort requirements on the one hand, as well as increasingly stringent environmental requirements on the other hand, provide a serious challenge for the European cruise ports, including the port of Riga. The project “Green Cruise Port” is underway to enable ports to work together with the aim to analyze the situation and look for solutions to current problems in three main areas: 1) Port infrastructure development according to sustainability criteria, 2) Environmentally friendly passenger land transport connections at the port 3) Ecological and economic impacts of cruise passenger excursions on the port cities.
The Freeport of Riga Authority has joined the project with the aim to use European funds and explore issues related to the cruise traffic in the Port of Riga, as well as to exchange information and learn from the experience of other European cruise ports. In the framework of the said project every port has the opportunity to carry out a study and organize a workshop on key issues, that are important for the relevant port. The Freeport of Riga Authority will be responsible for the study of the cruise ship crew's behaviour and needs at the port, as well as for organizing a seminar on port charges. Ms. Laura Apoga: “Both areas, that are our responsibility in the framework of “Green Cruise Port” project, are extremely important for the successful development of cruise traffic at Riga port. In order to maintain the competitiveness of Riga port and attract more and more cruise lines, the port policy in the field of port dues and charges is very important. The project provides an opportunity to obtain information on port fees and discount policy provided for the cruise ships in other European ports, as well as to compare the relevant tariffs with Riga port dues and charges. As for the second area - actually, we planned to explore behaviour and needs of the cruise ship crews staying at the port long ago. It is estimated that the size of a cruise ship's crew is equal to 1/3 of the number of passengers. So, if the port of Riga is visited by approximately 70 thousand cruise passengers per year, we have to be aware of more than 23 thousand members of the crew coming to Riga with them. The passenger habits, desires and needs are thoroughly researched and catered for, at the same time we know very little about the crew routine while in port. The project “Green Cruise Port” provides us the opportunity to implement such a study and in the future we can make the port of Riga not only a passenger-friendly, but also a crew-friendly port.”
