The cruise ship “Azamara Quest” of the Azamara cruise line visited Tarragona for the first time this weekend, with 700 passengers on board; this is the first cruise ship of the season in the Port of Tarragona.
The ship moored on Friday afternoon in the cruise ship terminal in the Port of Tarragona, located on the Levante dock. It arrived from Nice (France) and was in Tarragona until Saturday when it set sail for Malaga. The stay of the “Azamara Quest” was longer than usual for a cruise ship in Tarragona; this exceptional overnight stay meant that the passengers could take their time to enjoy the city and the experiences that Tarragona has to offer during the day and at night.
There was a programme of diverse cultural and leisure activities for the cruise passengers, of which the highlights were guided visits to the main World Heritage and cultural places of interest of Tarragona. On Friday the passengers visited the city. On Saturday, from the activities available, 31% of the passengers chose an organized trip. Of those, 42% visited Tarragona World Heritage, 9% visited the mediaeval monastery of Poblet and Milmanda castle, 38% visited Barcelona, and 11% visited Montserrat and the cellars of Codorniu.
9 cruise ships and 8,000 passengers
Tarragona Cruise Port Costa Daurada is enjoying the results of the strategy implemented three years ago, and is becoming consolidated as an exclusive international destination for cruise passengers in the Mediterranean. The forecast for 2015 is to welcome 9 cruise ships and 8,000 passengers, a significant increase on the almost 2,000 passengers of last year.
Tarragona Cruise Port Costa Daurada
In Tarragona Cruise Port Costa Daurada all the virtues of the Mediterranean way of life converge, with a wide variety of activities for those tourists who wish to enjoy unique and unforgettable experiences, such as wine tourism routes taking in great wine cellars, a rich gastronomic offer, golf, sunshine, clean golden beaches, and all kinds of outdoor activities. This destination enjoys international recognition as World Heritage of UNESCO, including the archaeological collection of ancient Roman Tarraco, the mediaeval monastery of Poblet, and Human Towers; one of the most genuine and original cultural expressions in Europe, which is Immaterial World Heritage of UNESCO. Tarragona Cruise Port is also synonymous with Gaudí; Reus, where Antoni Gaudí was born, still maintains places where this genius used to go and was linked to his life.
Its maturity as a top level tourist destination and its possibility to open up to the world are the main reasons for the definitive entrance of Tarragona and the Costa Daurada into the competitive world of cruises.
The cruise committee is formed by agencies from the area; the project is lead by the Port of Tarragona, with the presence of Tourist Management of the Council of Tarragona, the Town Hall of Tarragona, the Chamber of Commerce of Tarragona, the Town Hall of Reus, Tourist Management, School of Tourism at URV (university of Tarragona) and PortAventura.
