About 2,000 passengers arrived in Olbia this morning on board the Aidablu , the ship of the Costa Cruises group which thus inaugurated the 2023 cruise season in the port of the city. Coming from Naples, it moored in Olbia around 9.30. On the calendar for tourists, mainly of German nationality , there are excursions to La Maddalena, Tempio, the Costa Smeralda, food and wine tours in the Gallura vineyards, a visit to the city and shopping . This morning's call is only the first of 12 scheduled by the company for 2023, four of which are scheduled every Saturday in March.
For Olbia, the season that has just begun promises to be a recovery , even if the annual calendar of arrivals is being defined due to the rescheduling of the itineraries , the agreements with the local maritime agencies of reference and the Covid crisis which has left deep wounds to a market still in the process of awakening. At present, in total, there are 50 scheduled calls and the estimated number of passengers is around 80,000 , about 20,000 more than last year.
The 2023 programming confirms the MSC , which returns to Olbia with the Orchestra , the Symphony and the possibility of embarking for a tour in the Mediterranean; the British Marella Cruises , with the Voyager , and Saga Shipping , with the Spirit of Adventure ; the luxurious Silver Sea and Oceania and, a new entry, the exclusive cruise Evrima from the Ritz-Carlton Collection fleet, the 290 million euro ship that re-proposes the luxury of the hotel chain at sea.
«We are proceeding with the gradual awakening of the market in our ports of the system - explains Massimo Deiana, president of the Port System Authority of the Sea of Sardinia - After Cagliari, also Olbia, albeit with continuous updates on the calendar and, in any case, with a trend that promises to grow compared to last year, restarts at full capacity to welcome more and more cruise ships. There are several shipping groups that will call at the White Island port in the coming months , as well as the type of ships and the nationality of the customers. Indicators, these, of a recovery at full speed of the sector at an international level and of new challenges for our ports and for the territories of reference".
(Unioneonline/vf)
