02_febbraio - Porto & diporto

seatrade / porto&diportoTutte le crociereportano a RomaCivitavecchia si conferma scalo leadercon 2milioni e 250mila crocieristiCivitavecchia, il porto diRoma, attrae i crocieristiprovenienti da tutto il mondoper visitare la Città eterna. Si sa,questa è la sua fortuna, iniziata con ifinanziamenti per il Giubileo. Ma nonsolo. Roma è una meta irrinunciabileper chi non l’ha mai vista, ma possonoessere numerosi gli itinerari al-ternativi nella Tuscia, a partire dagliEtruschi e dai castelli che dominanola splendida campagna romana.Sono state novecento le navi dacrociera che hanno scalato Civitavecchianel 2010 con un recuperodel 13% sull’anno nero, il 2009. Loscorso anno i crocieristi sono stati1milione 950 mila e per il 2011 leprevisioni attestano il Porto di Romaal secondo posto nel Mediterraneo,subito a ridosso di Barcellona, conoltre 2milioni 250 mila crocieristi.Cosa significa in termini economici?Un’entrata diretta per il porto di circa40 milioni di euro per i diversi serviziportuali: turn around; transito passeggeri;rifornimento provviste di bordo;Cruises all come to RomeRome’s port of Civitavecchia attracts cruise passengersfrom all over the world who come to visit theEternal City. The phenomena began with the financialresources made available for the 2000 jubilee. Romeis not the only attraction there are also the Etruschancities and the castles of the Roman countryside.900 cruise ships called at Civitavecchia in 2010 a 13%improvement on the black year of 2009. Last yearsaw 1,950,000 cruise passengers. Estimates for 2011amount to 2,250,000 passengers which will put theport in the European number two spot after Barcelona.Thismeans income of 40 million euro for the portfor services such as port services, turn around, transitpassengers, supplies, rubbish collection, water,power, logistics, bunkers, chandler supplies, agencyfees, check in for passengers, tourist guides and portfees.General secretary Giuseppe Guacci declared “thereare 450 employees involved in the cruise businessplus 600 indirectly for a total of 1,000 people. If the territorywas able to attract tourists who had not bookedexcursions on board or prior to departure there wouldbe more employment and revenue”.It is a know fact that a substantial number of cruisepassengers are return passengers. Often they havealready visited Rome. Many like different excursions,the unusual, do it yourself or have a sense of adventure.Therefore other visits can be proposed, Civitavecchiaitself or nearby places which are waitingto be discovered such as Trajan’s Baths, Vulci andOdescalchi castles on the coast. Inland there are abbeysand palaces of noble families, the lakes of Anguillareand Bracciano at Tarquinia and Tuscanica aswell as Viterbo, gastronomic itineraries and naturalhot water baths. Cruise is not a problem for a citybut a development possibility. There is need to preparea worthwhile offer. It should be rememberedthat 20% of passengers remain on board in port orvisit nearby. A recent study has shown that during acruise each passenger spends almost as much as thecost of his ticket. In addition each passenger spends60 euro in each city where the ship calls. ThereforeCivitavecchia with its 2 million passengers cashesin 120,000,000 euro. Institutions, shopkeepers andall the population should wake up and offer the bestof Italian hospitality even if that means a sacrifice byopening on a Sunday.Already in the past the surrounding towns made a seriesof proposals which were presented at Seatradein Miami thus permitting the Etruscans to arrive inthe States to publicise the cultural and artistic patrimonyof Alto Lazio. This year Civitavecchia will againbe present on the Italy pavilion in Miami where in theearly 90’s a well aimed promotion had set the basisfor the future. In those days 50 cruise ships a yearcalled at Civitavecchia. There is need to reinvent theproduct, improve quality and to be proactive and hospitable.Tourists are not lacking and neither are the investorsneeded to improve the quality of in-coming. In factCivitavecchia Cruise Terminal represents the world’smost important brands, Carnival, MSC and Royal Caribbean.It is not unusual to see tens of these floatingcities under the shadow of Fort Michelangelo. A sightnot to lose; an opportunity of which advantage shouldnot be lost.14 - febbraio 2011