Industry players meeting in Puerto Rico
More than one thousand industry players will drill into hot issues at the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association’s annual conference and trade show in October.
The association’s president Michele M. Paige exclusively told the Compass it was looking like a bumper attendance at the Puerto Rico-based event, which takes place from 3-7 October.
“It is a continuation of opening up doors as to how we want to work with the destinations and each facet of the various disciplines – tours, promotion, government relations, how important that is to the overall product,” Ms Paige said. “[We will be discussing] setting the Caribbean apart and making sure it is not relying on the old, well-established tourism destination. Looking at what each destination should be doing to set itself apart, making it a phenomenal experience for the passengers and the crew.”
Ongoing dialogue
Most of the governments have been to previous conferences and know the decision makers and players in attendance, said Ms Paige, so they know the conference is a good opportunity to continue ongoing dialogue about what work needs to be done.
“[This applies] especially in the instance of Cayman, with all the things that are on the table … it is more important than ever [that Cayman discusses its infrastructural plans],” she said. “The reason larger ships cannot call in Cayman is because you physically cannot accommodate them.”
In general, the cruise industry is learning to deal with the redeployment of ships out of the Caribbean to other destinations. The low season is also up for discussion at the conference.
“Unfortunately the Caribbean is not a demand destination in the summer and that is one of the things that the destinations need to be able to tackle. How do they portray the product so that people want to come? We cater to where the consumer wants to go, so how can we work together to be able to communicate that the Caribbean is a phenomenal place to come, year-round?”
Strong showing
The industry has 36 ships in planning for construction during the next three and a half years, she said, so the future is solid. However, the loosening of the travel restrictions to Cuba have not yet affected the US-based cruise lines’ immediate planning.
“It’s something that has been discussed in boardrooms for the last 20 years, but we cannot legally go there. There is still work that has to be done on the ground before that could happen so it’s not feasible to plan at the moment.
“The industry is very resilient; we have been able to do very well by streamlining our operational costs. Fuel continues to be a problem but by keeping the product fresh and going to more and more destinations we continue to do well. There are more ships in Brazil today, up to 10, which has been established as a very big destination, for instance.”
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