Acronym: PortCREW
Project Title: Mediterranean Port-City Regions: Towards a Smart, Sustainable and Striking Cruise Development
Duration: 30 months (01 April 2025 – 30 September 2027)
Description:
The PortCREW project aims to redefine cruise tourism in the Mediterranean by transforming ports into gateways for smart and sustainable eco-tourism. By fostering collaboration among key port-city regions across five Mediterranean countries, the project addresses the growing environmental and social challenges associated with cruise activity, while unlocking the potential of lesser-known natural and cultural destinations.
Partners from Thessaloniki (Greece), Ravenna (Italy), Toulon (France), Valencia (Spain), and Koper (Slovenia) will jointly develop and pilot innovative cooperative solutions to balance tourism flows and promote local sustainable development.
At the core of the project lies the implementation of an innovative, transnational digital platform that will enable ports to deliver personalized and dynamic tourist information to cruise visitors, tailored to diverse tourist profiles and real-time conditions (e.g. weather, crowding). In parallel, local stakeholders will co-create new tourism packages and services, aiming to enhance accessibility and the visibility of inland destinations beyond the coastal zone.
PortCREW focuses on:
- Addressing overtourism and seasonal congestion in small and medium-sized port cities receiving cruise ships.
- Showcasing the tourism value of inland and lesser-known areas through smart accessibility and digital tools.
- Enhancing the social acceptance of cruise tourism by involving local communities in the planning of tourism flows.
- Integrating sustainability principles into local tourism and development strategies.
- Deploying and piloting digital info-totems in three cruise ports, interconnected with the project platform.
By applying a transnational and cross-sectoral approach, PortCREW promotes a collaborative tourism development model aligned with the EU Green Deal, the EU Strategy for Sustainable Tourism, and the priorities of the Interreg Euro-MED programme.
CERTH/HIT Role:
CERTH/HIT is a scientific partner in the PortCREW project, coordinating the pilot implementation phase and leading the Thessaloniki pilot, which focuses on extending the Thessaloniki City Pass to include dedicated services for cruise tourists. Additionally, CERTH/HIT contributes to the capitalization and dissemination of the project’s results through synergies with other EU projects and networks.
Interreg Euro-MED: https://portcrew.interreg-euro-med.eu/
Contact persons:
Dr. Maria Morfoulaki
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+30 2310 498454
Dr. Glykeria Myrovali
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+30 2310 498462
