44 Explora Journeys takes guests to both marquee and smaller destinations, such as Lerwick in Scotland PLANNER PERSPECTIVE Francesco Di Palma of Explora Journeys tells Rebecca Gibson why closer, long‑term partnerships between cruise lines and ports are key to enhancing operations and strengthening destination experiences When planning their itineraries, cruise lines are looking for much more than just an available berth. “Itineraries must balance guest demand, sailing distances, berth availability, operating requirements, seasonality and destination appeal,” says Francesco Di Palma, vice president of itinerary management and port and fleet captain at Explora Journeys. “Safety, infrastructure capacity, transfer times and a destination’s ability to consistently deliver a good experience are all taken into consideration in ship deployment decisions.” These requirements shape what cruise lines expect from the ports they visit. “Port readiness increasingly depends upon how effectively the wider operation performs,” says Di Palma. “This includes everything from safe nautical access and terminal capacity to ground transportation, connectivity and the overall guest experience. It’s also particularly important for homeports to have efficient passenger flows and transport links.” Di Palma says several common characteristics make ports stand out. “The strongest ports engage early with cruise lines and take a longterm approach to planning,” he says. “These ports look beyond the physical berth and consider the entire journey, including passenger processing, security, immigration, luggage, accessibility, ground transportation, coach staging and distribution of visitors once they leave the terminal. They also understand that the guest experience is shaped beyond the port gate. Therefore, they involve tourism authorities, local government, transport providers and destination partners in their planning processes.” In addition, high-performing ports anticipate evolving ship designs, deployment patterns, technologies and energy requirements when making infrastructure investment decisions. “The most forward-looking ports plan infrastructure that can respond to changing demand rather than building only around today’s operating model,” says Di Palma. Anticipating future operational needs requires cruise lines and ports to work together as long-term strategic partners. “Cruise lines and ports increasingly work together on longer-term deployment planning, infrastructure requirements, passenger flows, destination management and the environmental transition,” says Di Palma. “Sharing information early helps ports anticipate future requirements and enables cruise lines to understand berth capability, scheduled works and operational constraints. This supports better berth planning and a more seamless guest journey.” Collaboration is becoming more important as destinations face growing scrutiny over the potential impact of cruise tourism on local communities and the environment. By working together, cruise lines, ports and local stakeholders Photo: Explora Journeys Beyond the berth
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