Cruise ship tourism - a case study Poland

Cruise ship tourism is an important segment of the maritime tourism market. "Cruising, according to CLIA (Cruise Line International Association), is one of the safest, most affordable and enjoyable vacation experiences available today and the industry continually reviews best practices and develops innovative technologies to further strengthen its safety record. A record 20 million - plus global passengers went on a cruise in 2012" [1]. In addition, this branch of industry has also generated thousands of jobs at sea and in the ports of calls and has brought huge incomes for local economies in visited tourist destinations. The main objective of this article is to assess the state of development of cruise ships tourism in Poland. In the first part of the article, there are included analysis of the number of cruise ship calls and passengers and there were also presented the largest cruise vessels that have visited seaports in Poland. There is also described the state of preparation of the seaports in Poland to support cruise ships. Moreover, there are also discussed the scope of services of the seaports in Poland, offered to ship-owners and a range of fees which must be borne by them. In addition, there are presented entities involved in handling of cruise ships while staying at the seaports. The article ends with a summary where it was indicated, inter alia, the reasons for the decreasing trend in the number of calls of cruise ships in Polish seaports.