ATHENS: The new cruise terminal at Leixões in Matosinhos, near Oporto, which was formally inaugurated last Thursday afternoon, is expected to receive around 130,000 passengers a year by 2018, according to the port’s administration.
The first stone of the 40-metre-high structure, containing 18,500 cubic metres of concrete, was laid by former Prime Minister José Socrates during the last Socialist government in March 2010.Since 2011 the port has been receiving a growing number of cruise ships. According to the director of marketing of the Administration of the Ports of Douro and Leixões (APDL), Helena Gomes Fernandes, this growth has been reflected in the direct and indirect creation of many jobs, above all services provided to the ships.
“We’re talking about tour guides, coach drivers, the whole tourism offer that is provided here”, she said, without providing figures. She also highlighted a partnership with the University of Oporto which has made possible the creation of the Marine Science and Technology Park, whose headquarters are on the upper floors of the building, with some 200 researchers.
So far this year alone, the terminal has received 90 cruise ships, 12 percent more than all last year, with some 90,000 passengers and 45,000 crew. According to the APDL, the largest group, at 44 percent, are UK citizens, followed by Germans, at 16 percent, and US citizens, at 15 percent.
