The Viking Sky cruise ship of the company “Viking” inaugurated for a second consecutive year the cruise season in the port of Thessaloniki. The passengers of the first cruise ship arriving in the city for 2023, received a warm welcome by representatives of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and ThPA S.A., while they had the opportunity to enjoy music by Greek composers from the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Municipality of Thessaloniki upon disembarkation and to receive useful informative material about the destination from representatives of the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization.

The dynamic growth of cruise tourism in Thessaloniki is expected to continue, with 67 arrivals already scheduled for 2023, from 13 different companies and 21 different cruise ships, as leading cruise companies have included the destination in their itineraries. Compared to 2022, currently 5 additional cruise lines have placed Thessaloniki on their destination map with the cruise ships Vasco de Gama, Gemini, World Navigator, Renaissance, Seven Seas Voyager and Norwegian Dawn.

At the same time, ThPA S.A. in cooperation with Thessaloniki Tourism Organization is conducting a study to assess the Social and Economic Impact of Cruise on the city and the wider Metropolitan Area of Thessaloniki.

In addition, the leading cruise and yachting conference of Greece "Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum" (PSTF) is going to take place in Thessaloniki on 25-26 April 2023, with the participation of high-ranking executives of the industry, highlighting Thessaloniki as the world capital of Cruise for 2 days.

"The development of cruise tourism in Thessaloniki has "opened" an additional gateway for incoming tourism from the neighbouring Balkan countries and we are proud that the port of Thessaloniki is a vital part of this. In cooperation with local, national and international entities, we are implementing targeted actions and initiatives to promote the destination in order to increase tourist traffic and strengthen both the local community and the wider region of Northern Greece in economic and social terms", said the Executive Chairman of the BoD & Managing Director of ThPA S.A., Thanos Liagkos.