A regional workshop on river cruising industry

The Port Governance Agency hosted the regional workshop "RCI in the Middle Danube Region (HU/HR/RS)", organized in the scope of the international DIONYSUS project. The event, which was organized together with project partners from Croatia and Hungary, was attended by representatives of port operators, shipping agents, tourist organizations, local self governments and tour operators.

The topic of the workshop was the further improvement of international passenger waterway transport. The current situation in the field of RCI in the Republic of Serbia, Croatia and Hungary was presented, with special reference to development plans and new international passenger terminals. The Agency informed the attendees about the previous work in terms of investments in new terminals on the Danube and Sava. Also, the project "Awake the Danube" was presented. The aim of the project is to promote and develop cruising, through the connection of cities in Upper and Lower Danube in Serbia.

During the meeting, a panel discussion was held, where the participants talked about the perspectives for sustainable cruising in the Middle Danube. The panelists analyzed the development of passenger traffic after the suspension of cruising due to the pandemic, as well as the interest of tourists. In addition, future initiatives for introducing renewable energy sources at international passenger terminals were discussed. The participants invited local self-governments and tourist organizations to actively work on developing and promoting their offer, bearing in mind the many potentials of the Danube for tourism.

Investments, regional cooperation, new development projects and the promotion of nautical potentials play a key role in improving of passenger traffic on the Danube, it was concluded at the workshop.