The cruise terminal of Port Tarragona has hosted an immersive experience that shows what ancient Tarraco was like through virtual reality glasses. The company Timeport, creator of this proposal, has agreed with Tarragona Cruise Port, the terminal’s concessionaire, to conduct a pilot test and offer its services to cruise passengers. The experience proposes a flight over the city thanks to a rigorous historical recreation, in which one can see how some of the monuments currently designated as UNESCO World Heritage originally looked. The goal of this proposal is to make the wait in the terminal more enjoyable for embarking and disembarking passengers and to help transit passengers visiting Tarragona better understand the archaeological remains and how they have shaped the modern city.
In this pilot test, the terminal had a total of 13 virtual reality glasses and a dedicated space for the experience. One set of glasses featured a shortened one-minute version of this virtual tour of Roman Tarraco, allowing any traveler passing through the facility to sample the immersive experience and learn about the proposal before purchasing a ticket for the full ride.
Flying Over Tarraco
The experience is already being offered at a location in the Part Alta of Tarragona. Now, with this pilot test, both Timeport and Tarragona Cruise Port will evaluate the possibility of offering this activity to other cruise ships. Cruise passengers who have tried the experience have been able to fly over Tarraco in the year 162 AD and see what the most prominent city in all of Hispania was like. Thanks to virtual reality, they have closely observed iconic spaces such as the Circus, the Provincial and Colonial forums, and the city walls, among others, while also learning about what now-vanished structures like the Temple of Augustus—located where the cathedral now stands—are believed to have looked like.
The aim of this proposal is to complement the experience of cruise passengers passing through Tarragona. On one hand, the activity makes the wait in the terminal more enjoyable for embarking and disembarking passengers, making it more pleasant and engaging. On the other hand, the virtual reality experience helps transit passengers visiting the city by providing historical reconstruction content that allows them to visualize ancient Tarraco and contextualize the UNESCO World Heritage monumental complex.
This pilot test is part of Tarragona Cruise Port’s commitment to continuous improvement with the goal of offering travelers a high-quality experience. It is worth noting that in the satisfaction survey conducted by Eurecat for the past season, the Tarragona cruise terminal received a rating of 9.1 out of 10, highlighting the qualitative leap achieved with the construction of this facility, which has marked a turning point in the cruise project in the region.
