The general director of MSC Cruises in Spain, Fernando Pacheco, explained yesterday that the possible implementation of a tourist tax in the Valencian Community, and in Valencia in particular, would have an economic “impact” for the company but would not deter its activity. “A tourist tax does not condition our decision to put a boat in one city or another, it never has,” he said.
The person in charge of the company specified that, if the tax proposed by the partners of the Valencian government came into force, (of a voluntary nature for the municipalities and between 0.5 and two euros per day), that cost would be assumed by the shipping company. “In MSC Cruises we do not transfer local taxes to passengers,” he said in an interview with Europa Press collected by this newspaper. In fact, the director of MSC Cruises insists on the company’s commitment to the city of Valencia with the boarding, for the first time in its history, of two company cruises in the Turia capital simultaneously, since MSC Seaside It will be joined by the MSC Bellisima during this summer, with which the company plans to “double” the number of passengers arriving in Valencia in 2019, and that were 30,000.
Exceed 2019 data
“Not only do we think that we are going to recover from the pandemic in Valencia, but that we are going to make much larger volumes than those made in 2019,” Pacheco commented. In addition, he highlighted the company’s “support for the city” and valued his relationship with Valencia over the years in aspects such as the sponsorship of the Trinidad Alfonso Valencia Marathon or, previously, of Valencia CF . Asked about citizen associations and political forces that advocate limiting cruise traffic in cities, he maintains that MSC has to “relate to the cities” in which it operates, both with its citizens and with the environment.
Consider cruise passengers
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“MSC Cruises will be happy to set up working groups with governments and decide how many ships to put in and what type,” added the representative, although he also commented that the company receives “encouragement” from the Valencian business community to reinforce its operations in Valencia and requested that, before making decisions regarding regulations, the weight of cruise passengers be evaluated in relation to that of tourists arriving by air or land.
MSC Cruises, the third largest cruise company in the world and market leader in Europe, South America and South Africa, will have, for the first time in its history, two ships with an embarkation port in the city of Túria. Within its strategic plan for growth in Spanish ports, the company has more than 400 scheduled stops, and is committed to Valencia, where it has been docking for 15 years.