Croisieres de France will start calling at the marina of Santa Margherita with the L’Horizon in April 2012. Thirty-two Monday calls are scheduled for the first season. Staying in port for approximately 10 hours, the mainly French passengers will have time to explore the town, according to an announcement from the town of Santa Margherita Ligure and the shipping agent, Cambiaso & Risso.

The calls are the result of a commercial agreement signed by the company Progetto Santa Margherita of the Marina di Santa and Cambiaso & Risso, whereby the shipping agency has been contracted to promote the marina to the cruise industry.

Cambiaso & Risso said it is going to implement a marketing plan presenting the port and the destination as the Pearl of the Tigullio – “an ideal location for a stopover for yachts and luxury cruise ships, but also larger cruise ships that for various reasons cannot call at Genoa or La Spezia, but want to offer their passengers a unique chance to visit Liguria’s Eastern Riviera.”

Twelve cruise ships called in 2010, compared to four in 2009, including MSC Cruises and Thomson.

Cambiaso & Risso has its head office in Genoa and Munich, and has a network of branches in Italy (Savona, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Naples, Augusta, Santa Panagia, Milazzo, and Venice) and abroad (Rijeka, Koper, Marseille, and Singapore, which opened in 2011). Cambiaso & Risso is also a tour operator specialising in dedicated excursions for the cruise passengers.

Progetto Santa Margherita is a limited liability company owned by the town of Santa Margherita Ligure.