This year, CSI Design Expo Americas (CSI Americas) and Cruise Xperience Innovation Summit (CXI Americas) started the two-day event by inviting cruise line creatives, design studios, procurement teams and exhibiting suppliers to Miami art gallery The Bass for an exclusive opening party, hosted by GMT Global Marine Travel, Bath Fitter, Accomar and CITA Design. Guests networked in the central rooms, sipping drinks to the Latin songs of the live band provided by our Entertainment Sponsor Andriali Contract, or wandering the gallery displays, taking in the art installations.
By the time the Miami Beach Convention Center opened to all visitors on the first day, select suppliers and buyers had already taken part in the first round of the curated Speed Networking sessions - with the Miami rain unable stop industry leaders from meeting with exhibitors. On the second day, a Peer to Peer networking session took place in the stylishly appointed Cruise & Ferry VIP Lounge, featuring furniture courtesy of American lifestyle brand DANAO. Over coffee, cruise line executives and interior designers shared their industry perspectives and expertise.
A Peer to Peer networking session took place in the Cruise & Ferry VIP Lounge which featured furniture courtesy of DANAO
The show floor featured over 250 exhibiting design studios, outfitters, interior suppliers, and industry innovators showcasing their creations. From fabrics, furniture, and lighting to immersive onboard experiences and seamless service enhancements, specifiers walked the show floor sourcing products for every onboard space. Exhibitors included Janus et Cie, Marine Interiors, Bath Fitter, Laticrete Marine, Aros Marine, Muraspec, SMC Design, Dianthus Miami, Humble Lights, CONDUCTR, and Aquarena, among many others.
The schedule of content brought together industry experts and design leaders to share their ideas and perspectives on the future of cruise ship interiors. The variety of learning experiences included panel discussions, Meet the Brand Q&As, and case studies with a speaker line-up featuring James Mitchell, head of newbuild growth and innovation at Norwegian Cruise Line, Saleta Valdes Marquez, concept innovation senior manager at MSC Cruises, Katy Harris, director of creative entertainment and experiences at Princess Cruises, Nancy Smith, senior project director at The Parker Company, and Tatiana Sheveleva, owner and founder of Chapi Design Inc.
Experts on the CXI stage explored topics ranging from the latest in competitive socialising onboard to onboard dining
The last conference session of the two days, ‘Delivering the brand: Aligning refurbishment and newbuild,’ proved to be among the most popular, with visitors filling the HRDS lounge. Speakers David McCarthy, operations director of SMS Group, Liz Schneider, principal owner of Liz Schneider Interiors, Gianluca Gugliotta, senior director of vessel refurbishment at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, and Ben Marcionek, principal of Wilson Butler Architects spoke to a packed crowd about how they each approached creating an infrastructure that supported refurbishments, new design features and storytelling that could repeat and refresh across their brands. The speakers shared the cornerstones of their practice that ensure they deliver design that feels fresh on arrival and forms a strong base for future brand developments.
Over at the CXI Stage, experts explored topics ranging from the latest in competitive socialising onboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Aqua to the ways that cruise ship dining is being transformed. The CXI Stage also saw the Battle of the Brands on day one, where exhibitors joined in rapid-fire pitches in a competition for ‘Best in Show.’ The audience cheered on their favourites, adding to the atmosphere and influencing the VIP judges’ final decision. Gel Blaster, Plaat Detail, Ledra, EWP, Polywood, and Enhance A Colour took part. but it was CXI’s Gel Blaster that took the win. Their representative, Blake, made an entrance in a gel-blasting suit and backed it up with return on investment stats that matched his presentation.
Soon after, delegates gathered for Happy Hour, sponsored by Almaco, Antaeus Travel Group, Crane Worldwide Logistics, and Holovis. The celebration kicked off as the CSI Americas and HRDS Future Leaders, nominated by peers and recognised as rising stars shaping the industry, were welcomed to the stage. The night then continued at After Hours at Baoli, sponsored by Better Designed Lighting and Capitol Pro.
The show floor featured over 250 exhibiting companies
The Sustainable Design Summit, meanwhile, set out a vision for achieving 100 per cent carpet recyclability by 2030. The session ‘Reducing the mid-life waste crisis’ featured case studies and personal accounts, presented by speakers Benjamin Sasse, superintendent of hotel projects at Carnival Maritime, Stefan Bez, founder and CEO of Oceancircle, Cristina Stefani, brand ambassador for circularity at Aquafil and Bruce Goff, property improvement manager for luxury and lifestyle brands at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Visitors learned about how Oceancircle and Aquafil worked together on the Evolution carpet initiatives, which targeted waste coming off of vessel processing during the ship’s mid-life refurbishment but targeted the materials going back on to the vessel. Econyl, the material in question, can be recycled at the end of its life to go back to carpet. As with all Sustainable Design Summit sessions, this conference shared insights into the pilot schemes already underway across several hospitality industries and set the stage for experts at every stage in the supply chain to share their insights.
The assembled crowd were joined by four Miami-based design studios for the final conference session of the event, the 305 Design Break, moderated by the American Society of Interior Designers. The four design studios - HKS, ID & Design International, Urban Robot and Arcadis - each raced against the clock to provide a rundown of one of their most recent, and interesting, projects. From a hotel-based restaurant designed to break the evening meal slump of the three-meal to a clever adapted reuse retail project, this session provided an insight into the ways Miami’s top design studios are operating.
Abi McMahon is content manager at Elite Exhibitions