The Municipality of Funchal (CMF) is committed to studying solutions, together with other entities, to encourage more cruise ship operators to use Madeira as a stop-off point.
During a meeting today, the Mayor of Funchal discussed his idea with Marie-Caroline Laurent, General Director of CLIA Europa – the largest trade association of the cruise industry in the world, and in which the Municipality of Funchal is an executive member; Eduardo Cabrita, Managing Director of MSC Cruises – Portugal’s leading company and Paula Cabaço, President of the Madeira Ports Administration (APRAM).
Pedro Calado highlighted, among other points under analysis, the objective of “annulling” the seasonality that exists in cruise tourism at a certain time of the year.
“We know that for 3 to 4 months that the Port of Funchal does not have much movement and it is important that we work together and encourage tour operators and cruise liners to use Madeira as an all-year destination,” he said, further elaborating that “the municipality is working on several fronts. These meetings are very positive for us to start putting these issues on the table and above all to open doors with other geographies at an international level who also share the same problems that we have.” Pedro Calado adds that “sometimes there are solutions worked and developed here that can be used internationally, and that is what we are also working on.”
The Mayor of Funchal further revealed that the meetings serve to improve, in future terms, issues related to accessibility and mobility within cities, namely how passengers use the city and infrastructure, stressing that “we can take advantage of a better combination between traders, who naturally want to develop their activity, with cruise tourism.”
Pedro Calado is of the opinion that one should look at a geography that is growing today, namely Cape Verde, the Canaries, the Azores, and Madeira, stressing that there has to be a balance between tourists and local merchants.
“We cannot have tourism that nullifies the city, nor can we have a city that annuls tourism. We have to know how to live in communion, although there are different points of view, we have to work together.”
Nevertheless, the Mayor said that the region’s tourism has exploded this year in growth terms of growth and that he expects that this year Madeira will surpass the numbers recorded in the pre-pandemic period. However, he considers it important to look both to the present and to the future, taking into account that the Port of Funchal is an important asset for the city.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
