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PPA S.A. participated at the 7th Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum taken place at the city of Thessaloniki on 25-26 April 2023 with this year’s main theme being “The Return to Growth: Challenges ahead for Cruise Lines & Destinations”.

The Chairman of the company, Mr. Yu Zenggang and PPA executives took part at the Forum which is a meeting place for cruise decision makers and serves as a platform for exchange, and the discussion about ways how to deal with the industry challenges. PPA Chairman also actively participated at a panel discussion around “The Crucial Role of the Mediterranean in Post-Pandemic Cruising”.

During the panel discussion Mr. Yu Zenggang talked about the port of Piraeus as a suitable example of how a dynamic cruise come back was enabled. After the dramatic slow-down during the pandemic, the port of Piraeus was the first in the region to restart cruising operations, as early as Mid-May 2021. The port of Piraeus not only could achieve fast and full recovery but exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2022 recording double and three digit growth (+190% in passenger traffic and +79% in ship berthing compared to 2021). In addition, PPA Chairman elaborated about the significance of Homeporting for the ports and how PPA through a consistent strategy and targeted investments could achieve a structural modification with increased homeporting shares in the overall cruise business mix (in 2022 65% of the cruise ships serviced were homeported, while 2023 pre-bookings show 43% increase compared to 2022) with positive returns to the local and national economy. Mr. Yu stated “we can for sure say that the cruise business for the port of Piraeus not only returned back to normal but is moving at a rapid pace with excellent future prospects and significant benefits to the country’s tourism industry and economies.