Marseille is not done with cruises…
Several elements such as the retention of customers by new equipment and events explain this phenomenon.
The facsimile of the Grotte Cosquer, opened in June, was a big hit with over 300,000 registered visitors.
The proliferation of festivals such as the great success of Jazz des Cinq Continents (35,000 spectators) or the Delta Festival (70,000 festival-goers!) also contributes to this.
The team in place also knew regulate and control part of the flow of visitors thanks to the cooperation with the Calanques National Park.
Of course, all is not well in the best of touristic worlds. When we talk with Laurent Lhardit the future of cruises in Marseille and a possible rationing of stopoversas has been implemented in Barcelona and elsewhere, it is clear that the hatchet is not buried…
“We are working with the main players in the cruise industry (Costa and MSC editor’s note) on several subjects and in particular the economic qualification of the financial products of the cruise and the regulation of flows within the City which generate complaints from the inhabitants… ( …) There is no war, there is a positive discussion…”
With regard to the possible regulation of stopovers, the tourism assistant looks at what is happening elsewhere but kick in touch on the sequence of events… which he puts back to the date when the municipality recovers the governance of the OTCM.
Of course, we can fear that in a few months politics does not take precedence over economic development. We must not forget that Marseille owes a proud debt to the cruise industry which, whether we were watching it or not, sounded the tourist alarm clock for the sleeping beauty…
Wait and sea ;O))