Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) is gearing up for the official opening of the tourism season on Friday, hoping to revive a sector which in the pre-pandemic 2019 season had seen it serve 622 calls and welcome over a million passengers before it suffered a 84% drop in cruise-related revenues as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

OLP Deputy CEO Weng Lin said: “The cruise sector plays a significant role for our revenues, as Piraeus port is an important hub for cruise ships in the Mediterranean Sea with 9-11 berthing slots for the simultaneous berthing of vessels of any size. The Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 negatively affected all cruise industry stakeholders. In 2020, Piraeus port accommodated 76 cruise arrivals and most of them were technical calls for supplies and for crew repatriation purposes.”

At this stage, Piraeus port is working in close cooperation with all involved parties to follow all the required health protocols based on the European Union’s Healthy Gateways Joint Action.

In response to the pandemic, OLP recently acquired a passenger disembarkation platform for emergency situations, which was constructed while also taking into consideration the dimensions of the cruise ships that operate in the wider area and will be used if a ship’s own means do not suffice.

OLP is participating at this year’s Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum to catch up with the latest sector developments, interact and engage with customers, promote the port’s facilities, services and destination to a wider audience and to garner customer insights and feedback.

This article was first published on ekathimerini.com.