New visa-free cruise line kicked off on the Black Sea
New Black Sea visa-free cruise line was launched from Sochi on December 25, 2014. The cruise programme includes the visits to Sochi (Russia), Istanbul (Turkey) and Batumi (Georgia). However, the initial schedule has been adjusted because of the stormy weather and Istanbul has been excluded from the first cruise, IAA PortNews journalist reports.
Igor Glukhov, Vise-President of ParadiseCruise&Ferry, told that the opposing stormy wind, long-drawn bunkering and the risk of going beyond the expected time of arrival made the company revise the route and exclude the call to Istanbul. Thus, the passengers obtain the opportunity to visit Batumi twice during the cruise and the organizers provide the tourists with additional sightseeing in Sochi and Batumi.
Russian Union of Tourism Industry supports cruises as the most dynamic way of tourism, Yury Barzykin, Vice President of the Union, said. According to him, the number of cruise passengers increases from year to year in Russia. Meanwhile, transport infrastructure of Sochi and transport logistics in the region ensure a high level of comfort for their guests. Cruise tourism is the most cost-effective in the region and the additional impetus to the development of this type of tourism is given by the visa-free regime as Turkey and Georgia accept Russian tourists without visas.
According to Denis Kotov, head of the department on the development of active types of tourism, Ministry of Resorts and Tourism of the Krasnodar Region, the potential of Russian cruise tourism is quite high and has not been achieved in full yet. The promotion of the new cruise line will revive the Black Sea tourism market, the more so as the port of Sochi boasts the most state-of-the-art environment for the passengers.
The Ministry of Resorts and Tourism of the Krasnodar Region supports the initiative of the cruise organizers since their success will probably attract other operators to the Black Sea. Denis Kotov also said that the number of foreign vessels calling at the port of Sochi has increased with the completion of its reconstruction in 2014. All these contribute to the development of Sochi as a large cruise city.
Read more at www.paradisecruises.ru.
