2022 was an eventful year in more than one meaning. But despite today’s geopolitical situation and the backlog of Covid-19, the cruise ports and destinations in the Baltic Sea region managed to sustain their focus on sustainability and their vision of ‘Making cruising a sustainable vacation offer in 2030’. In fact, more than 55 % of the partners in the Cruise Baltic network have executed sustainability initiatives in 2022.
In addition to this, Cruise Baltic took their work with the promotion of onshore power supply in the region to a new level. In spring, the network hosted the Sustainable Cruising Conference where 19 cruise lines signed a Memorandum of Understanding, committing to the use of available onshore power supply by 2024. And in autumn, the network launched an overview of onshore power supply in the region, making it possible to plan itineraries based on the availability of shore power.
“In difficult times like these, we need to address the current situation, but we must also rethink the way things are done and take action towards the long-term goals for our industry. We believe that cruising must be sustainable, and with the sustainability initiatives introduced last year, we have taken some important steps towards our vision of making cruising a sustainable vacation offer,” says Mikkel Aarø-Hansen, Chairman of Cruise Baltic.
Cruise Baltic focuses on combining social and economic sustainability as well as environmental sustainability, and the initiatives introduced by partners in 2022 come in all sizes and shapes: In Copenhagen they have made a study about the citizens’ perception towards cruise tourism, in Tallinn they are reviewing the air quality and how the port is impacting it, and in Turku they have replaced several petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles with electric ones. With their Sustainability Report the network aims to share best practices, inspire others and thereby accelerate action.
Tags: Cruise Baltic
