• Francesca Antonelli, head of Marketing and Cruises of the Port Authority of Valencia represented Valenciaport at the 62nd Assembly of MedCruise .

• In her speech she pointed out that “it is essential to raise awareness and sensitize, while working together with administrations, shipping companies, terminals and tour operators to build an inclusive tourism, where everyone fits”.

Inclusive and accessible tourism that democratizes the visitor experience in both ports and destinations. This is one of the priorities of Valenciaport highlighted by Francesca Antonelli, head of Marketing and Cruises of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) and senior vice president of Medcruise, in her speech at the 62nd Assembly of MedCruise (Association of Mediterranean Cruise Ports).

The event, which this year is hosted by the city of Corfu (Greece), was attended by the Mediterranean cruise ports associated with MedCruise and focused its discussions on the challenges faced by members of the association and operators; the challenge of the allocation of berths; as well as the inclusion and real accessibility of cruise passengers, both on the ship itself and in the cities they visit.

The panel discussion moderated by Antonelli, focused on “Accessible Tourism” and addressed both the profile and needs of cruise passengers. “The average age of the tourist on family cruises is 54 years old, while on luxury cruises it is 64. In addition, there is a percentage of cruise passengers with special needs who want to visit us and therefore, we must develop a strategy that integrates them and meets their needs,” stressed Antonelli.

In short, awareness and sensitization of the entire value chain have been revealed as the first step to achieve real accessibility on the ships themselves and also at the destinations. In this sense, active listening to the different groups and knowledge of their expectations “are the first step towards the construction of a truly inclusive tourism, in which everyone fits,” added Antonelli.

At this table it has been pointed out that there is a huge market of people with accessibility needs who “want to travel by cruise”. “It is not only a question of social commitment, but also a question of business insofar as a percentage of potential visitors discard destinations because they are inaccessible.”

Among the measures agreed at the table to address the challenge, the necessary collaboration between the Administration, shipping companies, port authorities, terminals, tour operators, excursion service providers and destination managers stands out. “We have to reduce the fear of making changes, even if they are small. It is not necessary to undertake everything at once, sometimes, small things are already a great help and their implementation does not involve a great economic expense,” concluded Antonelli.

TUR4ALL

The content of this roundtable was based on the conclusions of the TUR4ALL congress on cruise accessibility held in Valenciaport in 2019. The event already highlighted the priority of destinations to work intensively on their communication strategies, promotion and design of the services offered to meet the needs of these groups. At the table held in Corfu: “Accessible Tourism”, the progress made in this area and the challenges that remain to be worked on were described.