Wednesday, February 3, 2021 - 20:24 by ce-press
On December 17 2020, the Cruise Bordeaux Association became an independent entity with its own budget. “This will facilitate our actions and make things smoother and more efficient,” commented Laurence Bouchardie, Cruise Bordeaux coordinator.
For the past 15 years or so, the port the city and the Chamber of Commerce have been working together to promote Bordeaux as a destination to the cruise lines, attending events such as Seatrade Miami.
From 2012, more time was invested in the marketing group and the port was named coordinator of the Cruise Bordeaux group. Until 2020, marketing expenses were shared, events hosted by Cruise Europe, Seatrade and Cruise Lines International Association were attended and new marketing tools, such as a cruise dedicated website and brochures, were developed.
From 2012 to 2020, this small group grew to 12 members, which now includes the pilots’ association, the Region Nouvelle Aquitaine, the Gironde department and all the local cities which operate river cruise berths, such as Pauillac, Libourne and Royan.
In the meantime, cruise calls developed from 20 to 60 calls a year (pre-Covid figure), and from one to five river cruiseships home-ported in Bordeaux.
The purpose of the newly-formed Cruise Bordeaux association is to:
- promote and develop maritime and river cruise calls in the port and on the estuary
- coordinate the local stakeholders' actions
- promote the local day cruises
- make sure that the environment stakes are taken into account in all the cruise activities whether maritime, river or day cruises
The association has one president and two vice presidents which will change every two years. The first president is the port, and the two vice presidents are the city of Bordeaux and the Gironde department.
