For the first time, Cruise Baltic invites tour operators to join their summit and discuss how tour operators, cruise lines, ports and destinations in the Baltic Sea region can work together across the industry to overcome new challenges and fortify the position of the region.

New times call for new ways. The current world situation is affecting many industries around the world, and this applies to the cruise industry in the Baltic Sea region as well. The global position of the Baltic Sea region as a cruise destination is challenged because Skt. Petersburg no longer receives calls, and geo-political events in the region have changed the way cruise lines plan itineraries in general. Now some ports are receiving fewer calls, others have more calls than ever before, and some may even be reaching the limits of their capacity.

To meet these new challenges and to secure the region’s position in the cruise industry for the years to come, Cruise Baltic invited tour operators from the region to join their summit in Tallin. For the first time cruise destinations, ports, cruise lines and tour operators put aside their competing interests to collaborate in a joint workshop.

“We face challenges that can only be handled together across the industry and with a common will to find new solutions. That’s why we invited several stakeholders from across the industry to our summit. Cruise Baltic already has a unique collaboration amongst Baltic stakeholders, which is a great strength and something we are very proud of. Now we stand together and use our strength to fortify the Baltic Sea region’s position. We ask ourselves how we can help each other even more going forward and how we put aside our individual short-term interest to the benefit of a greater and common good in the long-term,” says Mikkel Aarø-Hansen, Chairman for Cruise Baltic and CEO for Wonderful Copenhagen.

The focus of the workshop was to talk about tour operator and destination collaboration in general but also on how to tackle new challenges in the best possible way and to move forward together based on trust and collaboration. The workshop was conducted by Luis de Carvalho, Commercial Cruise Director, Copenhagen Malmö Port, and took place at Cruise Baltic’s summit in Tallin. Members of Cruise Baltic, tour operators and 6 cruise lines took part in the summit.