Maritime tourism is an important element of the economic development of coastal cities. It is therefore essential that a port city creates an area friendly to maritime tourism services, is open to the needs of passengers, and provides them with good transport and information services.
Urban transport integrated with shipping can provide significant support in handling tourist traffic, contributing to improving the attractiveness of shipping connections for passenger traffic, thereby also increasing the city’s attractiveness.
Gdynia is visited annually by about a million people using this form of tourism, which includes 3 basic areas: ferry shipping, cruise shipping, and the so-called “White Fleet”. Each of these areas is characterized by a different specificity of operation and demand for urban transport services.
Ferry shipping
Ferry services are used by both individual motorized passengers and those traveling without their own means of transport. The second category consists of tour groups traveling by their own coach.
Two ferry services are maintained from Gdynia. The Gdynia – Karlskrona line, operated by the shipowner Stena Line, is of primary importance. The Stena Line ferry base, where comprehensive passenger service takes place, is located in the western part of the port, at the Helskie Quay. It is estimated that non-motorized passengers who reach the base, mainly using public urban transport, account for about 30% of the total number of people transported. About 100 m from the base, there is a “Ferry Terminal” stop, from which buses run towards the city center, as well as a taxi rank.
The second ferry connection is offered by the carrier Finnlines on the Gdynia – Helsinki and Gdynia – Rostock routes. This operator’s ferries dock at the Gdynia port at the ro-ro terminal. Due to the lack of passenger service facilities at the cargo terminal, the Clearance Office is located in the Maritime Station building. After clearance, passengers traveling by their own car drive to the ro-ro terminal on their own, while non-motorized tourists are transported to the ship’s berth by the operator. 5 bus lines run from the city center to the Maritime Station. However, foot passengers arriving in Gdynia, immediately after leaving the ferry at the ro-ro terminal, are forced to walk about 1 km to the stops.
“White Fleet”
Since 2006 in Gdynia, during the summer season, the land transport offer to the towns of the Hel Peninsula has been supplemented by the services of the so-called Water Trams, organized by the Municipal Transport Authority (ZKM). This offer is a partial solution to the problems of the Peninsula, which struggles with transport congestion. Passenger transport services to Hel are also provided by the Żegluga Gdańska company, which also offers sightseeing cruises around the Gdynia port.
The “White Fleet” ship pier is located in the most representative place in Gdynia, near Kościuszko Square, at the Pomorskie Quay. An inconvenience for tourists is the lack of connection of the pier with public transport and the need to cover a distance of about 1 km from the city center. In order to improve the accessibility of the pier, ZKM maintains a free bus line (no. 050) from the railway station to the Water Tram Pier, on which a double-decker bus runs every 30 minutes. Research conducted by ZKM in Gdynia shows that passengers reach the Tram pier primarily by their own car (36%). Some (about 22%) arrive on foot, while others use public transport and the free bus.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 5/2010.