The Cruise Europe AGM was held in Vigo on 22- 24 April with 60 representatives from the various member ports taking part. The Chairman for Cruise Europe, Dirk Moldenhauer, opened the meeting by thanking Ms. Dolores Rois, the Commercial Manager of the Port of Vigo, for the excellent preparations for the meeting and their generous hospitality. Cruise Europe currently has 101 member ports and 5 associate members. Monica Bengtsson, the chair person of the marketing committee, informed the meeting about the progress being made on developing a new corporate identity for the association and the new website. The aim is to introduce the new identity to the members at SEATRADE in Hamburg next September.
Monica emphasised that Cruise Europe is an organisation committed to promote Europe as a world class cruise destination. She continued by saying that Cruise Europe's function is to create awareness, attention and interest in the various destinations represented by the organisation, but the destination itself is left with the task of selling itself successfully to the cruise lines. Monica also pointed out that the association functions as a platform and a network for the destinations that speaks with a single voice to the industry and the European Union.
There was a general consensus among members at the AGM that the website is of an utmost importance to the association and that the updated version should be up and running as soon as possible.The overall structure of the site is divided into: cruise lines, media, members and the consumer. This was the last Cruise Europe AGM for Per Schmidt, Copenhagen, who went into early retirement.The Chairman thanked Per for his excellent contribution to the organisation during the last 15 years. Kattina Glasinovich, Executive Director, decided to step down from her position and the AGM thanked her for her very valuable work during her time in office.
For the next year the Cruise Europe Council consists of the following people:
- Margrethe Austad Port of Oslo, Norway
- Henrik Cars Port of Stockholm, Sweden
- Dirk Moldenhauer Port of Hamburg, Germany
- Dick de Graaff Port of Amsterdam, Holland
- Iain Dunderdale Port of Invergordon, Scotland
- Michael McCarthy Port of Cork, Ireland
- Ágúst Ágústsson Port of Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bente Saxon Port of Ålesund, Norway
Floating Members
- Valerie Dubuc, Port of Le Havre, France
- Arnt Möller Port of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Cruise Europe´s Mangement Team
- Dirk Moldenhauer, Chairman, Hamburg
- Viebeke Jörgensen, Executive Director, Århus (New)
- Nadine Palatz, Secretary/Treasurer, Hamburg
- Monica Bengtsson, Marketing Manager, Helsingborg
Internationl Cruise Shipping Workshops in Vigo
The 2009 AGM adopted a new format. Instead of the traditional seminar format, members were offered four different
workshops.The AGM delegates were divided into four groups and each group attended four different workshops.
The four topics discussed in the workshops were:
- Land Operations: Shore - Ex & pre-post tours
- Market Research
- Innovative Marketing Strategies
- Port Service, Operations & Security
For each workshop up to four speakers presented the topics from various angles and led the discussions with the delegates. Judging by a brief survey conducted among the participants, the general conclusion is that this is a good format, although it may need some refining.
The speakers for the workshops were:
- Hugues Lamy, Cruise Mgt. Consultant, Director
- Ressel Daya, Disney Cruise Lines, Director Security
- Chris Perry, Fred Olsen Cruise Line, Operation
- Capt. André Mahr, Aida Cruises, Senior Superintendant
- Mark Robinson, Intercruises, Managing Director
- Bruce Krumrine, Princess Cruises,VP Shore Operations
- Belén Wangüemert, RCCL, Director for Spain
- Ralph Grizzle,Avid Traveler Media, Director
- Emiliano González, MSC Cruises, General Director Spain
- Mario Martini, Iberocrceros, President
- Han van Midden, Policy Research Corp. Consultant
- Chris Ashcroft, Ashcroft & Associates, Editor
- Peter Wild, G.P..Wild & Brea Consultants, Director
Space restrictions do not allow much elaboration on the discussions during the workshops. An interesting point, however, came up in the marketing session. Most of the ports have been focusing their attention on the cruise lines when marketing their destinations. In this particular workshop, however, the focus was reversed, as can be seen below:
a) Focus on the travel agent
b) Focus on the Consumers
c) Focus on the cruise lines
The powerpoint presentations from the workshops can be viewed on the webpage: www.cruiseeuropeagmvigo.com
