The second Seatrade Winter Cruising Forum in Turkey has come to an end and delegates left after two days of discussions and announcements on the road ahead for off-season cruises in the region.

Executives at the conference welcomed recent action announced by the Greek government to lift restrictions on these types of cruises. They said it will be regarded by the industry as a significant step forward for cruising in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Chairman of Seatrade on Tuesday morning welcomed delegates to the conference, saying “This event will look at the drivers of winter deployment in the Mediterranean and in other parts of the world… Istanbul and Turkey provide an ideal location for this event, strategically located as natural links to other cruising grounds in the Black Sea and Middle East.”

With the high cost of fuel making long repositioning voyages unfeasible, seasonality has become very important for cruise lines. Over the past couple of years off-season cruising has grown beyond most cruise lines’ wildest dreams. Several speakers at the conference discussed the challenges, but also the successes of deploying ships around the year.

Simon Douwes, the Director of Deployment and Itinerary Planning at Holland America, admitted that he was initially sceptical about the merits of winter cruises. He says he had “moved from being a non-believer to a believer” and he is now convinced that off-season cruising will continue to be a rapidly growing segment of the market. Holland America’s cruise liner Rotterdam will be deployed year-round from the Dutch city that carries its name starting from October next year.