Costa Toscana and Costa Favolosa to South America in 2021-22

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 28 October 2020 28 October 2020

Costa Crociere, part of the Carnival Corporation & plc group, has presented its programs for the 2021-22 season in South America that will include the new Costa Toscana and Costa. Favolosa, the company said in a statement.

Costa Toscana will make its debut in Brazil, and Costa Favolosa will extend its season to almost five months.

The inaugural cruise of Costa Toscana, which is currently under construction in Finland, will include New Year's Eve, as it will depart from Santos on 26 December 2021 for a seven-night holiday to Salvador and Ilhéus, returning to Santos on 2 January 2022 for what will be an unprecedented moment in the history of the Brazilian cruise industry.

From 2 January to 10 April 2022, Costa Toscana will offer another 15 cruises with the same itinerary, with embarkation in Santos and Salvador. The 15 cruises also include Carnival and Easter departures. The latter will be the last tour of the ship before the Brazil-Italy crossing, departing from Santos on 17 April 2022.

Starting 20 November 2021, Costa Favolosa will be cruising in South America for 144 days, almost five months, the longest season in the history of the company in the region. The ship will offer five cruises, from three to six nights, calling at Búzios, Salvador, Ilhabela and Balneário Camboriú, with embarkation from Santos.

From 13 December 2021 to April 2022, Costa Favolosa will depart from Rio de Janeiro for her traditional "Prata" itinerary. A total of 15 eight-night cruises will be available, with embarkation – for the first time – in Itajaí, in addition to Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Costa holidays in the Prata region also include Christmas, New Year's Eve and Carnival.

This itinerary will allow guests to visit popular destinations, such as the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Ilhabela, Itajaí, Montevideo (Uruguay) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). Costa Favolosa's New Year's itinerary will maintain her traditional New Year's Eve stop at Copacabana beach and its fireworks display.

The 2021-22 season will also be marked by the Italy-Brazil and Brazil-Italy crossings on board Costa Favolosa. These cruises allow tourists to visit different places in the world at once. Departing from Savona on 2 November 2021 for an 18-night tour, Costa Favolosa will visit the charming destinations of Marseille, Barcelona, Malaga, Casablanca and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in addition to the Brazilian cities of Recife, Salvador, Ilhéus and Rio de Janeiro.

The return cruise to Europe will start on 16 April 2022 from Rio de Janeiro for a 15-night voyage calling at Salvador, Maceió, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Malaga and Barcelona before reaching Savona on 1 May 2022.

The International Cruise Summit 2020 celebrates its tenth edition focusing on the reconstruction of cruise tourism

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 21 October 2020 21 October 2020

Madrid will once again host the International Cruise Summit, organised by Cruises News Media Group, which in its tenth edition, will bring together senior international professionals of the cruise industry to discuss this very significant tourism sector. This prestigious event will take place on December 1st and 2nd, following all the necessary health and safety protocols, at the Hotel Meliá Castilla in Madrid, and will also include the possibility of participating virtually, due to the travel restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this way, the tenth edition of the International Cruise Summit will become the most important event in terms of scope and audience in the history of summits held to date. In addition, the schedules have been adapted with the aim of reaching the greatest number of professionals worldwide.

After a mandatory pause in the global cruise industry operations, cruise lines are starting to resume their activity, with advanced health and safety protocols and itineraries. A solid industry, committed to the environment and sustainability, with even more efficient ships and a willingness to rise to the challenges that this new situation brings.

Senior international cruise line executives, port authorities, tourist destinations, as well as travel agents and the entire auxiliary industry, will participate virtually or in person in this hybrid event, one of the most important cruise congresses worldwide. The event will count on the participation of many prominent international professionals in the cruise industry as speakers such as Michael Bayley, President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, Tom McAlpin, President and CEO of Virgin Voyages, Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Group, Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC cruises, Chris Theophilides, CEO of Celestyal Cruises and Peter Deer, CEO of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, among others. We will also hear from Professor Gordon Dougan from Cambridge University, one of the world’s most influential people in the vaccine world, on the search for a vaccine.

During the two days, several round tables and presentations will discuss the return of operations, new strategies of the cruise companies, excursions and destinations, new investments, modification of fleets and the way to restore consumer confidence.

Several cruise lines have now resumed their operations with itineraries in Greece, Malta, Italy and Northern Europe and in the coming days Spain will join the list with cruises in the Canary Islands.

Global Ports Holding to sell Port Akdeniz, becomes pure cruise port operator

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 21 October 2020 21 October 2020

Global Ports Holding Plc, (GPH), the Istanbul based and London listed company that is the world's largest independent cruise port operator, said it has agreed to sell Ortadoğu Antalya Liman Işletmeleri ("Port Akdeniz") to QTerminals W.L.L. a Qatari commercial port operating company, for an enterprise value of $140 million.

Port Akdeniz is a leading commercial cargo export port in Turkey, currently specialising in handling cargo containers and general and bulk cargo destined for global markets including those in Asia and the Middle East. If completed, the sale consequently means that GPH will become a pure cruise port operator.

“The net cash proceeds for GPH from this transaction at closing will be determined by deducting net debt of Port Akdeniz at closing as well as paying transaction-related costs and taxes. A small portion of the purchase price will be withheld by the buyer and paid 12 months after closing of the transaction,” the company said in a statement.

This conditional agreement follows the Strategic Review announced by the board on the 5 July 2019 and GPH's announcement on the 11 March 2020 that it had entered into exclusive negotiations over the sale of Port Akdeniz. The sale remains conditional, inter alia, upon obtaining certain regulatory clearances and approvals from various Turkish governmental authorities. The timing of the closing process is uncertain but could be concluded as early as the final quarter of this year, however there can be no certainty as to the final outcome. A further announcement will be made when it is appropriate to do so.

A successful closing of the sale will be an important element of the group' refinancing strategy for the $250 million Eurobond due November 2021. “While the board of Global Ports Holding believes the proposed disposal will also allow the GPH board and senior management to focus time and resources on continued investment into further growth opportunities in the global cruise port market. On completion of the sale, GPH will effectively become a pure-play global cruise port operator,’ the company said.

While a range of restrictions currently remain in place in regard to the return of meaningful cruise activity, GPH said it believes that the continued demand for cruising, as evidenced by strong booking patterns reported by the major cruise lines for 2021, is very supportive to the long term health of cruise tourism.

Vodohod River Cruises and Tam Wing Kun sign partnership agreement

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 21 October 2020 21 October 2020

Vodohod Russian River Cruises said it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Tam Wing Kun Holdings Limited (TWKH) to provide a direct presence in Asia.

This is the second such contract from the cruise industry in the past three weeks as on 30 September TWKH sign a  partnership agreement with Swan Hellenic, the UK based expedition cruise line.

“Tam Holdings offers the highest standards of service and efficiency, with over 40 years’ experience across the travel sector, representing many of the world’s leading airlines and logistics companies in Asia through offices or partners in China (Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Taiwan),, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia,” Vodohod said in a statement.

The partnership is a strategic agreement in line with Vodohod’s long-term approach of establishing a direct presence in every market worldwide to offer the close personal service to which it is committed.

Vodohod River Cruises has a fleet of 26 ships ranging from three to fivestar, including 12 dedicated exclusively to international guests.