ESPO launches Code of Good Practices for Cruise and Ferry Ports
02 June 2016
Today, the European Sea Ports Organisation has launched the ESPO Code of Good Practices for Cruise and Ferry Ports. This code has been developed by ESPO together with Cruise Baltic, Cruise Europe, Cruise Norway, MedCruise and Cruise Britain, who since September 2014 have been part of the Cruise and Ferry Port Network.
The aim of the code is to formulate a series of good practices to face the challenges that European cruise and ferry ports are dealing with nowadays. The five main challenges identified are the port-city relationship, infrastructure, cooperation, relation with the cruise and ferry lines and security. Besides sharing these practices among port authorities, the code can also be seen as an instrument to enhance the dialogue with all stakeholders involved in the cruise and ferry sector. Moreover, this code must inform policy makers and the wider public about the characteristics, challenges and bottom-up initiatives taken by European port authorities.
The code comes with a dynamic online inventory of concrete examples of the good practices outlined in the code. This inventory will be updated continuously and will turn the code into a living document.
“It is an honour to present this first outcome of the Cruise and Ferry Port Network. The cruise and ferry business is an important activity in European ports. Next to the 3.8 billion tonnes of goods that are passing through European ports each year, there are more than 400 million people passing through these same ports. The making of this code has shown the network to be a unique node of knowledge and of exchange of good practices at the service of every port in Europe that wants to improve its performance in the cruise and ferry business and for every port, who is a newcomer in the business.”, said Stavros Hatzakos, the Chairman of the Cruise and Ferry Network, at the launch of the Code.
“Even if many ports in Europe are handling both freight and passengers, we see that passenger handling ports demand a specific approach in many areas: be it in infrastructure, where it is important to develop the right “look and feel” for your port; or in the relations with the city where the seasonality of passenger traffic obliges the port to work closely with the city to reduce externalities; or as regards security, where the port wants to ensure a high level of security while being customer friendly. The code also shows how a continuous dialogue with the lines and with the wide range of stakeholders involved in the business can enhance performance and improve the image of the sector”, added Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General.
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