Wednesday, December 10, 2014 - 08:42 by ce-press
This year has been another good year for Cruise Europe (CE) as an association with a growing membership, a new pavilion in Miami and a very successful conference and annual general meeting (AGM) in Riga.
In September we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) together with three other port associations to strengthen the voice of the ports on political issues through our associations.
Membership development
As an organisation we are unique in our geographical spread, from Lisbon to St Petersburg and Iceland. Starting in 1992 with 27 ports, we have grown to a very positive 115 members – with 15 new members joining in 2014.
This is an achievement of which we are very proud and it makes CE an organisation even more relevant to the cruiselines. We will continue to work hard to recruit more port members, by targeting the remaining marquee ports in our region that are not members. We will continue discussions with the ports such as Hamburg and Reykjavik to attract them back into the ‘Cruise Europe family’.
We have been working really hard to achieve this very important goal. Chairman Captain Michael McCarthy and managing director Jens Skrede have visited over six potential new members to present the benefits of joining CE which has been very well received.
All new members are very important to CE but to welcome the Port of Southampton back is another milestone and a big step in the right direction for us. Southampton is one of the largest turnaround ports in Europe and very important for the whole CE region.
Miami
Following several months of hard work we were able to finally present the new Cruise Europe pavilion at Cruise Shipping Miami 2014. We secured a 110m2 footfall in a very central location. Thanks to 14 of our loyal members we were able to take a big step forward from the old concept. The pavilion was energised by the French Atlantic Ports offering fine fayre every day and a Belgian beer reception hosted by Zeebrugge which generated a far more lively atmosphere than in previous years.
McCarthy said at the CE reception in Miami: “We believe that success is built on partnership” and this year that was evident. Serious business meetings were facilitated on the stand with cruiselines during the show and attending member ports took an active part in the exhibition. Due to the success of the exhibition some of our new members committed to joining CE during CSM 2014.
For the second year running we hosted a reception on the Monday afternoon, once again, sponsored by SeaWalk. It was a very successful event with 220 delegates registered. Again the turnout from our members was very encouraging; the trade press was present and 22 executives from the cruiselines were also in attendance. Despite the challenges in attracting the cruiselines during such a busy period, in Miami, we were extremely happy with their turnout.
We have rebooked the same floor space for 2015 and the same partners will return to the CE pavilion for next year.
Cruise Europe conference in Riga 2014
In May we hosted our annual CE conference and AGM in the Latvian capital Riga. The event was very well attended by over 100 delegates, speakers, journalists and other guests from all over the world. Next year this annual conference will be hosted in Santander, Spain, from 28 to 30 April.
ESPO the voice of cruise and ferry ports
During our AGM in Riga this year, the council and members had a very detailed discussion on how regional associations could cooperate and collaborate on mutually important issues that arise in an ever-changing industry. We commenced discussions with ESPO and during the summer months developed an MOU on how to proceed.
During Seatrade Med in Barcelona the chairmen of Cruise Europe, MedCruise, Cruise Baltic and Cruise Norway signed the agreed MoU. The next meeting of the group under ESPO is scheduled for January 2015 and we will bring a detailed report to CE members in Miami and to the AGM in Santander.
So as we now enter the festive season, Cruise Europe would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.
