This article first appeared in the Spring/Summer 2015 issue of International Cruise & Ferry Review. To read other articles, you can subscribe to the magazine in printed or digital formats
Cruise Europe (CE) as an organisation is unique in its geographical spread, from Lisbon to St Petersburg and Iceland, and encompasses an almost equal number of member ports being inside and outside the limitations of the European Emission Control Area (ECA) directive affecting the Baltic, the North Sea and the English Channel.
Starting in 1992 with 27 ports, we have grown to a massive 117 members – and counting. In the last 12 months we have been able to recruit 15 more members. This is an achievement of which we are very proud and it makes CE as an organisation even more relevant to the cruise lines.
From 16-19 March 2015, visitors to Cruise Shipping Miami can meet 15 exhibitors at the CE Pavilion on stand 731 in a very central area of the exhibition hall. We will be serving French wine and cheese, courtesy of the French Atlantic Ports, while our Belgian partners, Antwerpen and Zeebrugge, will make chocolate on the stand, and will serve excellent Belgian beer one afternoon. Freeport of Riga will be present in a smart, lounge-style stand. Arctur Travel of St. Petersburg is an ever-present and loyal member at our stand, and they are back with a strong team also this year.
We will also host our popular Monday afternoon reception on South Beach on 16 March. This event brings the cruise industry together in Miami with guests including the members, of course, as well as cruise line representatives and the trade press. In addition, we expect a large crowd from the broader industry to attend the Cruise Europe/French Atlantic Ports gathering.
Our annual Cruise Europe Conference will this year take place in Santander, Spain, starting on Tuesday 28 April with internal meetings. Cruise line representatives and trade media will be offered guided tours of Santander and the region of Cantabria. In the evening we will have our popular informal get-together in Santander.
On Wednesday 29 April we will have a full-day conference at the Magdalena Palace on the seafront. We have already some very high-profile speakers confirmed for the conference. The formal gala dinner is on Wednesday evening. Thursday 30 April will provide another opportunity to see what Santander and Cantabria can offer cruise ships calling in this part of Spain.
We are currently planning a CE Pavilion at Seatrade Europe in Hamburg this September. We have always had our own stand, but hope to have a larger space this year, where CE and some of our members will exhibit together. There will also be the traditional and very popular Cruise Europe evening reception.
The deployment strategies of the cruise lines are very important to our members. Operators are showing divergent regional trends as they boost onboard revenue to offset potential income loss through low ticket prices. The cruise lines’ strategy to reduce operating fuel costs by slower steaming speeds between ports and shorter times in ports will no doubt have a negative effect on shore excursion revenue and customer satisfaction. The idea of a ‘leisurely’ cruise holiday can be offputting to many passengers who like to wander in a new destination rather than being under pressure to get back as the ship has to sail. However, we are entering very exciting times as our members look with greater confidence to a more positive economic climate in Europe and hopefully to a reversal in the trend of shorter visits to our ports.