LOCATIONS supports the public authorities of five European countries to develop and implement these plans
Cruise tourism is a constantly growing niche, with an expected increase of up to 25 million passengers a year in the future. It also has a notable economic impact, given that all cruise passengers spend an average of 70 euros in each territory visited. However, cruise destinations must mitigate the impact of cruise tourism, especially in “valuable” places, introducing measures to preserve local natural and cultural resources and to tune the best tourist experience with the daily activities of citizens.
In this sense, the LOCATIONS project – Transport with low carbon emissions in the destination cities of the cruise ships – supports the public authorities of 5 European countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia and Albania) to develop and implement transport plans with low carbon emissions (LCTP) with specific measures for cruise passenger flows that contribute to the decongestion of city traffic and the reduction of local pollution. The first 7 LCTPs have been successfully completed in the port cities of the project: Lisbon, Malaga, Ravenna, Trieste, Rijeka, Zadar and Durres. These LCTPs have been developed in harmony with other strategic plans, such as the PMUS and PACES, thanks to the crucial collaboration between the technical agencies and the port, local and regional authorities.
In the case of Malaga, the LCTP conceives 3 main axes of action: (1) contribution to facilitate movements and coexistence, promoting the reach of the attractions of the city center on foot and adopting traffic management schemes before and during cruise ship arrivals; (2) increase and better distribution of passenger spending in the local economy with the adoption of intelligent management tools specific to cruise ships and the promotion of distant attractions within the municipality, and (3) the reduction of the carbon footprint and the pollution related to visitor mobility, especially with the consolidation of bicycle sharing schemes and the controlled introduction of personal mobility vehicles. To better represent the solutions designed for the city and the related advantages, an explanatory video can be found on the CIRCE YouTube channel.
Last October, LOCATIONS partners met in Lisbon to begin the capitalization phase that proposes the transfer of experience in other Mediterranean countries, specifically in Cyprus, France, Greece, Malta and Slovenia. The Lisbon meeting agenda included a capacity development seminar where the group of «replicators», institutions responsible for the development of 6 new transport plans with low carbon emissions, were trained according to the LOCATIONS Methodology.
During the 2-day training course, CIRCE was in charge of explaining the scope and contents of an LCTP, presenting the LOCATIONS Capacity Building Manual that contains the methodology to follow, and detailing the minimum requirements included in the Package of Evaluation of LOCATIONS for the successful achievement of the LCTPs.
Additionally, a visit to the new cruise terminal in Lisbon was organized to publicize its cutting-edge facilities. The wide flexibility of its components is continuously adapted to the tourist needs and the evolution of the market, which translates into high quality services offered to passengers, who can, for example, register their luggage on the flight directly from the terminal cruise ships.
LOCATIONS is financed through the European Regional Development Fund (Interreg MED Program 2014-2020).