OREANDA-NEWS.  September 17, 2012. Ukraine will contribute to the development of cruise business in its territory. This was announced by vice Prime Minister - Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Borys Kolesnikov during the meeting with the First Vice President of the second largest cruise company in the world - US-Norwegian Royal Caribbean Cruises Craig Milan during his working visit to the U.S.A.

During the meeting held in Miami it was discussed a number of issues regarding the potential of Ukrainian ports in the cruise industry.

In particular, as Craig Milan noted travel aspects of the cruise business development is possible in the three ports of Ukraine - Odessa, Sevastopol, Yalta.

"Odessa port has great potential for receiving cruise ships, as it is in the heart of the city, and it is very convenient for tourists", - the vice-president of Royal Caribbean Cruises.

According to him, the Odesa port has quite a good infrastructure. Implementation of a certain infrastructure improvements in Yalta and Sevastopol provide calls in Ukrainian ports much larger cruise ships than they are serving now.

The vice Prime Minister met with the leadership of the U.S. Port of Miami, which due to its favorable geographical location and developed infrastructure for many years has the status of Cruise Capital of the World. More than 4 million passengers passage through port terminals annually.

The port serves about 20 operators of cruise lines whose routes cover 250 ports in different regions of the world (Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, and North and South America).

In addition, there are many headquarters of cruise companies in the Port of Miami.

Modernization of the U.S. cruise port is carried out continuously using the latest technology and developments. The effectiveness of the Port of Miami cruise infrastructure is not in doubt and that experience may prove useful in the development of tourism in Ukrainian ports.