1,500 cruise passengers disembarked in Bari, from two luxury ships, today 30 April. The season is already in full swing in the port of the Apulian capital. In reality it had started at the beginning of January, with the first arrivals, but now it is increasingly intensifying and in the city you can see more and more groups in the streets of the center and in old Bari. “The objective for this year is to exceed 500 thousand cruise passengers”, announces the president of the Port Authority Ugo Patroni Griffi.
The Silver Spirit, a ship of the Irish company Silver Line Cruisers, docked today – with 579 passengers on board assisted by 410 crew members, en route to Dubrovnik – and the Viking Mars of the Swiss Viking Cruises, with 923 passengers and 462 members of the crew, which goes towards Crotone. Passengers were offered strawberries in the info point managed by Unpli Puglia.
“Our season started on January 5th and ends on December 28th – points out Ugo Patroni Griffi – so in reality it never ends, but the frequency intensifies as we get closer to summer. In Bari we hope to exceed 500 thousand cruise passengers this year, given that the ports of call have reached 166. In 2025 the latter will increase by 15 percent, and therefore the objective will be to reach 700 thousand cruise passengers. The ships arrive increasingly full. Puglia is now considered a cruise region.”
So much so that companies decide to invest heavily in it. See for example MSC, which is already calling in Bari with the Armonia and will also start with the Opera in May. “They chose us as their home port, we had a promotion: for some ships, Bari is the only embarkation and disembarkation port in Italy. This means that anyone who wants to take that tour must necessarily come here. And this creates a tourism supply chain that impacts the entire local economy.” MSC has also submitted an application for the management of the cruise terminals in Bari and Brindisi. There were no competing bids and the request will be assessed by the port authority’s management committee in May.
“This is a consolidation of the great work done in recent years – concludes Patroni Griffi – We have a fairly well-established organization in managing the info points and in 2025 the reception will certainly improve because the new terminal will come into service. Furthermore, we are now building new aprons for buses serving ships. Infrastructure improvement is constant.”
