How Cruise Visitors Are Spread Across a Destination | Seatrade Cruise | Virginia Quintairos
Exclusive interview with Virginia Quintairos, Managing Director of Intercruises Shoreside & Port Services. In this interview, the Managing Director of Intercruises Shoreside & Port Services explains how cruise shore excursions are changing, why passengers want authentic local experiences, and how planning can make cruise tourism more sustainable. Key Highlights: 1. She explains that Intercruises offers three services to cruise lines: port agency services, turnaround services (terminal staff and transfers when passengers board and disembark), and shore excursions. 2. She says the cruise industry is growing about 5% to 7% a year. She also says cruise lines are segmenting by ship size, from mainstream lines with 3,000 or more passengers to mid-range and smaller luxury or premium lines, so services are tailored to each. 3. She says the main trend is that passengers want an authentic experience of a destination. They want to learn, meet local people and feel part of the place, not only see the famous highlights. 4. She says Intercruises researches what makes each destination different, looks at what different age groups and interests want, and adapts the excursions to the destination’s resources. 5. She says cruise itineraries are planned at least 12 months ahead. This lets the company spread passengers across different places and times, so they don’t crowd single sites, and she calls this a more sustainable way to manage tourism. 6. She says Intercruises has built a technology platform based on Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) criteria. It helps suppliers such as transport, restaurants and museums become more sustainable, and it can give each excursion a sustainability rating. 7. She names two main challenges: growing under new regulations, especially in Europe, where she says some rules arrive without enough consultation across the industry, and keeping up with faster trends through innovation. About Travel And Tour World: Travel And Tour World is a global travel media platform covering travel, tourism, hospitality, aviation, MICE, cruise, and luxury travel, with readership across 195 countries. [cruise industry, cruise industry trends, cruise trends 2026, cruise industry growth, cruise tourism, shore excursions, cruise shore excursions, cruise shore excursions trends, authentic shore excursions cruise, immersive cruise excursions, cruise passengers want local experiences, how cruise excursions are planned, cruise passenger trends by age, sustainable cruise, sustainable cruise tourism planning, sustainable tourism, sustainable shore excursions, GSTC, GSTC criteria shore excursions, cruise excursions sustainability rating, cruise overtourism solutions, how cruise lines manage crowds in ports, spreading cruise passengers across destinations, cruise port services, cruise port agency services, cruise turnaround services, cruise ship shore services, cruise ports, cruise industry regulations Europe, cruise ship sizes mainstream vs luxury, luxury and premium cruise segment, Intercruises Shoreside & Port Services, Virginia Quintairos, Travel And Tour World] #CruiseIndustry #CruiseTrends #CruiseTourism #ShoreExcursions #SustainableTourism #SustainableCruise #GSTC #CruisePorts #CruiseTravel #LocalExperiences #Overtourism #LuxuryCruise #TravelAndTourWorld