Decrease in number of Eastern Aegean Cruises as they turn to the Ionian and Adriatic Seas
aegean cruises
16 Oct 2017
/ 07:27
CORFU. Decrease in number of Eastern Aegean Cruises as they turn to the Ionian and Adriatic Seas
In comparison to its role in the tourist market 10 years ago the cruise as a product has changed completely.
Up to that time cruise passengers travelled with ‘cash in hand’ - ready to spend on anything and everything. They didn’t care about the cost, possibly because at that time the whole of western society continued to enjoy great financial independence. Older tourism businessmen describe that period as ‘an ocean of yoghurt’. Everyone got to eat, regardless of the kind of ‘spoon’ they had.
The following is a good example from the situation in Rhodes up until 2008. An American couple were in a shop in the medieval town and while the wife was buying goods worth thousands of Euros, her husband (who was watching her as she made her purchases) asked her to leave the jewellery for a bit and to come outside and see how beautiful the walls were. This is how the majority of cruise passengers behaved. Expense didn’t mean anything to them. They paid for anything they saw. Everyone got rich, including the landlords, who had no hesitation in raising the rents to exorbitant levels.
This was until 2008 (when Lehman Brothers collapsed). Everything changed after that. The American financial crisis, which very quickly became an international crisis, changed the value of money and pushed down the value of everything. This also had an effect on cruises. In order to survive they repositioned, reduced package prices and added new products to the existing options. Gradually the ships became shopping centres. The aim was no longer the sale of an expensive cruise package, but to attract people onto the ship.
Everything on board is tax-free as long as they visit non-EU ports.
All the shops on a cruise ship sell their products tax-free. This means that the passengers don’t even consider buying something in the destination port if it is available on board. And the bigger the ship, the more shops there are. In this way, large cruise ships mean less takings in the destination markets.
Of course, for the tax-free sales to be legal it is compulsory for the ship to visit at least one non-EU port. The shops on board must remain closed while the ship is at an EU port. With this in mind, the customs authorities at Rhodes port carry out continuous inspections (despite the shortage of personnel). These inspections extend to possible smuggling by crew members (buying goods on board and attempting to sell them in the local markets). These smuggling attempts highlight how much passengers benefit financially if they choose to shop on board.
The Greek State rewards foreign ports
According to Greek legislation, a cruise ship which docks at a non-EU port immediately attains special privileges (tax benefits etc.). Therefore, the cruise has a double incentive to visit ports in Croatia, Montenegro and possibly Turkey.
However, the Greek State doesn’t give the same benefits to try and encourage cruise companies to visit distant islands such as Rhodes or Kastelorizo, which is a tremendous deficiency on their part. In fact, the government’s own MPs (Syriza) in the Dodecanese Islands are aware of this and have promised to take action. For a time they did follow up on the matter but then, in their own dear way, they abandoned it. In any case, their aptitude seems to be to abolish benefits rather than increase them.
Front payment of 300 Euros for purchases on board
This practice has recently started to be applied on cruise ships. Passengers are requested to deposit 300 Euros at the start of the cruise. They then receive a special debit card which they can use only for purchases in the shops on board. The excuse is simple and logical: ‘Instead of carrying around cash which you could lose, you have a personal card which you can use for all the shops and services (spa, gym, entertainment etc.) on board the ship. At the end of the cruise any unused money will be returned to you.’
Nobody asks for their money to be returned. Nobody wants to stand in a queue in order to get 10, 20 or 40 Euros back. They prefer to make last-minute purchases. Maybe some souvenirs from all the destinations – fridge magnets (1 Euro), embroidered handkerchiefs (3 Euros) and many other items with designs and names from the destinations they have visited are on sale on board. The 300 Euros is the bulk of the money that cruise passengers will spend. Other than that, the only expenditure they will have in port will be for some restaurants or ice cream and refreshments.
Fewer Cruises in the Eastern Aegean as they turn to the Ionian and Adriatic Seas
This year there was a record number of cruise ships docking at the ports in the Ionian Sea, primarily Corfu. There was, however, a record low for the ports in Rhodes and the Turkish coast. Worse is predicted for next year. The scheduling of cruises for 2018 gives us a clear picture of what to expect. So far, the following have been scheduled for 2018:
· Rhodes – 188 visits
· Kos – 18 visits
· Patmos – 149 visits
· Chios – 2 visits
· Mytilene – 0 visits
· Istanbul – 4 visits
· Corfu – 440 visits
· Dubrovnik – 474 visits
· Kotor, Montenegro – 436 visits
· Piraeus – 512 visits
· Santorini – 577 visits
· Volos – 23 visits
· Chania – 102 visits
The number of visits will increase but the proportion of visits per port will remain as indicated and there is a clear message to be seen here. Istanbul, the most important port in the world, has disappeared. As a result, visits to the Eastern Aegean have also decreased because the absence of Turkey means the absence of a visit to a non-EU country (which is necessary in order to retain the tax-free prices in the shops and the tax benefits from the Greek legislation). Istanbul took all the Eastern Aegean ports with it. Rhodes is sustained by the cruise ships that set out from Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and the longer cruises that last for weeks (covering the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Indian Ocean). Kos, unfortunately, will continue to have a problem.
Up to that time cruise passengers travelled with ‘cash in hand’ - ready to spend on anything and everything. They didn’t care about the cost, possibly because at that time the whole of western society continued to enjoy great financial independence. Older tourism businessmen describe that period as ‘an ocean of yoghurt’. Everyone got to eat, regardless of the kind of ‘spoon’ they had.
The following is a good example from the situation in Rhodes up until 2008. An American couple were in a shop in the medieval town and while the wife was buying goods worth thousands of Euros, her husband (who was watching her as she made her purchases) asked her to leave the jewellery for a bit and to come outside and see how beautiful the walls were. This is how the majority of cruise passengers behaved. Expense didn’t mean anything to them. They paid for anything they saw. Everyone got rich, including the landlords, who had no hesitation in raising the rents to exorbitant levels.
This was until 2008 (when Lehman Brothers collapsed). Everything changed after that. The American financial crisis, which very quickly became an international crisis, changed the value of money and pushed down the value of everything. This also had an effect on cruises. In order to survive they repositioned, reduced package prices and added new products to the existing options. Gradually the ships became shopping centres. The aim was no longer the sale of an expensive cruise package, but to attract people onto the ship.
Everything on board is tax-free as long as they visit non-EU ports.
All the shops on a cruise ship sell their products tax-free. This means that the passengers don’t even consider buying something in the destination port if it is available on board. And the bigger the ship, the more shops there are. In this way, large cruise ships mean less takings in the destination markets.
Of course, for the tax-free sales to be legal it is compulsory for the ship to visit at least one non-EU port. The shops on board must remain closed while the ship is at an EU port. With this in mind, the customs authorities at Rhodes port carry out continuous inspections (despite the shortage of personnel). These inspections extend to possible smuggling by crew members (buying goods on board and attempting to sell them in the local markets). These smuggling attempts highlight how much passengers benefit financially if they choose to shop on board.
The Greek State rewards foreign ports
According to Greek legislation, a cruise ship which docks at a non-EU port immediately attains special privileges (tax benefits etc.). Therefore, the cruise has a double incentive to visit ports in Croatia, Montenegro and possibly Turkey.
However, the Greek State doesn’t give the same benefits to try and encourage cruise companies to visit distant islands such as Rhodes or Kastelorizo, which is a tremendous deficiency on their part. In fact, the government’s own MPs (Syriza) in the Dodecanese Islands are aware of this and have promised to take action. For a time they did follow up on the matter but then, in their own dear way, they abandoned it. In any case, their aptitude seems to be to abolish benefits rather than increase them.
Front payment of 300 Euros for purchases on board
This practice has recently started to be applied on cruise ships. Passengers are requested to deposit 300 Euros at the start of the cruise. They then receive a special debit card which they can use only for purchases in the shops on board. The excuse is simple and logical: ‘Instead of carrying around cash which you could lose, you have a personal card which you can use for all the shops and services (spa, gym, entertainment etc.) on board the ship. At the end of the cruise any unused money will be returned to you.’
Nobody asks for their money to be returned. Nobody wants to stand in a queue in order to get 10, 20 or 40 Euros back. They prefer to make last-minute purchases. Maybe some souvenirs from all the destinations – fridge magnets (1 Euro), embroidered handkerchiefs (3 Euros) and many other items with designs and names from the destinations they have visited are on sale on board. The 300 Euros is the bulk of the money that cruise passengers will spend. Other than that, the only expenditure they will have in port will be for some restaurants or ice cream and refreshments.
Fewer Cruises in the Eastern Aegean as they turn to the Ionian and Adriatic Seas
This year there was a record number of cruise ships docking at the ports in the Ionian Sea, primarily Corfu. There was, however, a record low for the ports in Rhodes and the Turkish coast. Worse is predicted for next year. The scheduling of cruises for 2018 gives us a clear picture of what to expect. So far, the following have been scheduled for 2018:
· Rhodes – 188 visits
· Kos – 18 visits
· Patmos – 149 visits
· Chios – 2 visits
· Mytilene – 0 visits
· Istanbul – 4 visits
· Corfu – 440 visits
· Dubrovnik – 474 visits
· Kotor, Montenegro – 436 visits
· Piraeus – 512 visits
· Santorini – 577 visits
· Volos – 23 visits
· Chania – 102 visits
The number of visits will increase but the proportion of visits per port will remain as indicated and there is a clear message to be seen here. Istanbul, the most important port in the world, has disappeared. As a result, visits to the Eastern Aegean have also decreased because the absence of Turkey means the absence of a visit to a non-EU country (which is necessary in order to retain the tax-free prices in the shops and the tax benefits from the Greek legislation). Istanbul took all the Eastern Aegean ports with it. Rhodes is sustained by the cruise ships that set out from Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and the longer cruises that last for weeks (covering the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Indian Ocean). Kos, unfortunately, will continue to have a problem.
