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“Cruises have a real tradition in Germany. Many also love the culture, the gastronomy and the typical atmosphere of our country.”
Although very few visitors are interested in the industrial port, it has a significant advantage: it is located 15 kilometers from Bruges, which is considered an indispensable city for many foreign tourists. “The vast majority of passengers come to Venice of the North, where they spend the day,” confirms Mr. Vandenkerkhove. As soon as you leave the boat, buses will be waiting for you to take you back to the port in the evening. But some also drive to Flemish towns in the hinterland such as Furnes, Ypres, Damme, Ghent or Kortrijk or even make their way to Brussels.” Tourist attractions such as the Atlantic Wall in Ostend or the Zwin in Knokke-Heist are also protected by the local authorities advertised on cruise ships. The majority of travelers who dock in the Belgian port are German (50%), English (30%) or American. “Cruises have a real tradition in Germany. Many also love the culture, gastronomy and the typical atmosphere of our country.”
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“These huge ships make it possible to reduce prices. We can now offer week-long cruises for 800 euros per person, all inclusive.”
Zeebrugge cruises can depart from Hamburg (Germany) or Southampton (England) and continue either to the far north, to the Norwegian fjords or other regions, or, on the contrary, south to traditional leisure ports such as Barcelona or Venice. And these journeys are undertaken on increasingly larger boats. Some ships from industry giants such as MSC, Aida, Norwegian or Tui Cruises offer space for more than 5,000 passengers. “There are boats of all sizes in Zeebrugge: on average they carry 2,800 passengers on board. The tendency to use huge ships makes it possible to lower prices, notes the Bruges manager. We can now offer week-long cruises for 800 euros per person, all inclusive. This democratization has also led to a decline in the average age of cruise passengers, which is now 47 years old, compared to 62 years ago a few years ago. Zeebrugge sometimes receives two of these sea giants per day. “This requires a whole system, because there are baggage and security checks, like at airports.” If we invest a little in our infrastructure, we could definitely receive four boats a day, but that is not our goal.”
Bruges is approaching the red line in the face of overtourism
In doing so, the authorities want to prevent a menace called “overtourism”, mass tourism that turns the lives of residents into hell. Bruges, which welcomed 8 million visitors last year despite having just 119,000 residents, is already suffering. According to a study by the rental portal Holidu, the Flemish city is the second largest city in terms of the number of tourists in relation to the number of inhabitants, next to Venice and the Greek island of Rhodes. Only the fortress city of Dubrovnik, haunted by fans of the “Game Of Thrones” series, is ahead of them in this mass tourism ranking. The peculiarity of cruise visitors is also that their time is limited: they only stay for a few hours and do not represent any added value for the city’s hotel industry. “We will have to set limits. The number of cruise passengers in Zeebrugge must not exceed 600,000 per year,” announces Piet Vandenkerkhove.
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And the Belgians in all this? Very few of our compatriots go on cruises from Zeebrugge, which is primarily a port of call. “It’s not really in our habits. Among the major shipping companies, only MSC offers some cruises from Belgium.” Direct passenger ship connections between Belgium and the United Kingdom, which were very popular a few decades ago, no longer exist. “There are no plans to take them back,” explains Piet Vandenkerkhove. The Channel Tunnel went through there and people prefer to go to Calais, where the sea crossing is quicker. However, there are very short cruises from Southampton to Zeebrugge that somewhat replace these crossings between the two countries. These are very festive trips with nightclubs and tax-free shops.”
Large ships banned from the centers of Barcelona and Venice
Large cruise ships are seen by many as an ecological mistake and are no longer welcome everywhere. Venice and Barcelona, in turn, banned them from their inner cities. “In Zeebrugge we have no complaints from residents,” explains Piet Vandenkerkhove. The port is quite far from residential buildings and the town only has 3,800 residents, the vast majority of whom work for the port, so it doesn’t bother them. In addition, the port will invest 8 million euros in electrical installations for ships. The device allows them to connect to the local network and thus stop running their engine in order to have power on board when they are at the dock. A 2018 study found that an average liner uses nearly 700 liters of fuel every hour after docking, compared to 2,000 liters per hour while underway.
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