Cruise passengers are not a single audience. Across the PortCREW pilot destinations, stakeholders identify different visitor profiles, including older travellers, families, younger independent visitors and people with disabilities or reduced mobility. These groups have different needs in terms of information, transport, accessibility, timing and preferred experiences.
In Valencia, stakeholders highlight the importance of accessibility guarantees such as ramps, adapted transport, accessible monuments and restrooms, especially for elderly travellers and people with reduced mobility. Families also need child-friendly activities, flexible schedules, stroller accessibility and short transfers.
In Thessaloniki, people with disabilities and reduced mobility are described as needing reliable accessibility at every stage of the visitor journey, including clear information in advance, step-free routes, accessible transport options and well-designed public areas.
Accessibility is also a recognised priority in PortCREW’s approach to eco-destination alignment. One of the project’s technical criteria is accessibility and inclusiveness, with a focus on ensuring physical and social access for all, including elderly visitors and people with disabilities.
For the PortCREW platform, this means that sustainable tourism information must also be practical and inclusive. Stakeholders in several pilot areas identify accessibility information, sustainable mobility services and self-guided route options as important platform features.
A more inclusive approach can help destinations offer better experiences while also supporting more balanced visitor flows. If passengers can clearly understand which routes are accessible, how long journeys take, which transport options are available and what support exists on site, they are more likely to consider experiences beyond the most familiar urban hotspots.
In PortCREW, accessibility is therefore not an add-on. It is part of making sustainable cruise tourism work for real people, with different needs, different travel styles and different levels of confidence when exploring a destination during a short port call.
Interested in learning more? Explore the latest report from the PortCREW project, where we examine emerging trends, challenges and opportunities in sustainable cruise tourism across the Mediterranean, and discover how destinations can create more balanced and resilient visitor experiences:
