"The evolution of cruise tourism will be positive with more traffic in Palma than in 2019,” said director of TUI Spain in the Balearic Islands & TUI Destination Services, Ian Livesey. “From May to October an increase in activity is expected and Palma will benefit from that, because the cruise passengers will stay in hotels in the Balearic capital either before or after their cruise, which will have an economic impact in all the productive sectors in Palma and the rest of Mallorca.”
"This type of cruise passenger stays in a hotel, rents a car, shops in stores and eats in restaurants in Palma, which is highly valuable to all productive sectors,” adds Palma & Cala Mayor Hotel Association President. "The base cruise passenger boosts boutique and urban hotel occupancy in Palma by about three points and can guarantee average occupancy of 75% throughout the year."
APEAM & Shipping Companies
“TUI Cruises and Aida Cruises are promoting Palma as a cruise base and shipping companies MSC and Costa are also planning more cruise ship departures and arrivals, because Palma has exceptional air connectivity, hotels, shops, restaurants and other complementary services,” said APEAM’s Commission of Consignees President in the Balearics, Beatriz Orejudo. She also pointed out that mainland ports such as Alicante have made a strong commitment to the cruise ship segment because of the benefits it brings.
Orejudo says shipping companies are actively looking for ways to reduce the impact of cruise tourism in destination ports.
“The sector strives to be a profitable, sustainable and environmentally friendly business model,” she insists. “In terms of sustainability, the cruise industry strives to respond to the environmental challenges it faces, reinforcing waste management policies and practices, water treatment policies, reducing atmospheric emissions and adopting good sustainable practices”.
Shipping companies included in CLIA agree that the evolution of Mediterranean cruise tourism in the wake of the pandemic is very positive, with reservations forecast to be much higher than expected despite the fact that Covid protocols and capacity controls are still in place on all ships.
Because of the Russia-Ukraine war, several cruise ships that were supposed to stopover in Greece, Turkey or Egypt have come to Palma instead in the last few weeks.
“Palma offers everything, including security, hence it is the port chosen as an alternative if a detour has to be made for any reason,” said the CLIA.
Since January, there has been a maximum of three cruise ships per day in Palma and there will only be 18 days this year with four cruise ships docked.
The Balearic Port Authority cannot deny the docking of any ship in Palma, whether or not it is a cruise ship, because it is classified as a port of refuge, by the central Government.
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And right on cue in Sunday’s online bulletin is this report: “Four cruise ships in Palma on Sunday and two on Monday. Find out which ones.” I wouldn’t go anywhere near Palma with four cruise ships in. Good to get the heads up MDB.
MSC are a Swiss based company who don't even pay any Tax in Europe they use the EU and the Mediteranien like they own it they give a Hoot about the people who live downwind from those generators running all day .
You’d expect the positive spin from the cruise executives but the small print gives away the reality. The MDBs regular feature: “What ships are docked in Palma” should be relabelled: Cruise ships are in Palma, AVOID.! Imagine what it’ll be like with four or more there. Horrendously crowded and for the long term reputation and health of Palma as a beautiful city to live, work and visit… calamitous. I’m’ not against them per se, (definitely not my thing though) but it has to be controlled and controlled by Palma, not Madrid.
This is terrible news. Madrid is sacrificing Mallorca. Cruise ships are giant polluters. They'll destroy the crystal clear waters Mallorca is famous for. They disgorge thousands of low spend tourists into Palma. Who will go to Palma this year, with this story running?? For heavens sake, just look at the experience in Venice. The cruise ships virtually destroyed that beautiful city. Only now, when so much damage has been done, have the Venicians fought back and banned these super polluters. The big companies? They'll make the big bucks. They just don't care. But Mallorca will suffer and the damage will last for decades. What happened to a tourist model of environmental sustainability? What happened to quality tourism?? These tourists will stay away from Palma now. Fight back Mallorca, before it's too late!!!
Well at least it gives a new life to all those surplus Covid masks. The fp2 are the best for smog , bunker oil Sulphur and soot but any covering is better than nothing.