UK Cruise Tourism Summit: cruise industry needs a ‘joined up approach’

Collaboration and adopting a “joined up approach” within the cruise industry were key points of discussion at the inaugural UK Cruise Tourism Summit, hosted by Cruise Lines International Association’s (CLIA) in Liverpool, England.

The summit brought together industry leaders, alongside government, representatives from the UK’s devolved administrations, as well as ports and visitor groups. Together, they discussed how cruise can be at the heart of the UK Government’s upcoming tourism strategy and how they can cooperate to achieve the government’s aim of boosting inbound tourism to 50 million people a year by 2030.

Sir Chris Bryant, minister of state for creative industries, arts and tourism, said: “My main aim is not only to have said that we’re going to have an additional 50 million overseas visitors by 2030 and work towards that, but to produce a strategy that delivers. And that’s why the Visitor Economy Advisory Council that we’ve put together since the general election is much tighter. It’s smaller because I wanted it to not just be a talking shop, but a place that delivers.

“Of course, we want to bind in the whole of the sector to develop and deliver that strategy, which we want to do by the end of the year; but the key part is how can industry and government work together? And I fully recognise that there are some difficulties to navigate headwinds, and some come along completely unexpected. However, we want to work as a government alongside industry to overcome those headwinds and where there are specific asks that you have, and I want to make sure that those are heard loud and clear right at the very heart of government. By the end of this year, I very much look forward to producing, for the first time ever in the UK, a national tourism strategy.”

Sir Chris Bryant, minister of state for creative industries, arts and tourism, says the cruise industry is a vital part of a new, national tourism strategy he is setting up

The summit included various conference sessions, with one panel comprising Rachael Farrington of Visit Britain/Visit England, Isla Haddow of Denholm Port Services and Nick Hughes of Ambassador Cruise Line. The trio discussed how different parts of government can work with each other, and with industry, to grow and manage cruise tourism sustainably.

Farrington said: “Our role is to achieve all the things that the minister set out, so we’re working towards that 50 million figure and it’s all about driving demand for Britain and its destinations. At Visit Britain, cruise is definitely included in the destinations that we’re marketing and as the minister said, we’ve got a fantastic tourism campaign that’s just being launched. It will offer so many opportunities because it’s not going to be a one-day campaign, it’s a campaign that we’re looking to carry over for the next two to three years.

“We’re working very closely with local visitor economy partnerships (LVEPs) – these are high-performing destination management organisations that have been accredited by Visit England. It’s not just about them working with us, it’s about them working together, learning from each other and having that clearer landscape of 40 LVEPs across England to make it easier for the private sector to know who to speak to in each area, for government to know who to speak to, and then for them to collaborate to create new areas. One example is in the North East where we’ve seen the Destination Development Project (DDP) created where those LVEPs can come together to work on a specific project.”

In that same conference session, Denholm Port Services’ Haddow pointed out that a “joined up approach to collaboration” was essential and that everybody that needs to be involved in the conversation is included. She highlighted the importance of events like the UK Cruise Tourism Summit where discussions can be had and that the important points are at the top of the agenda.

“As a point agent I feel like it’s our role to join the dots,” she said. “Particularly with Ambassador Cruise Line being a UK-based cruise line, they have very strong links themselves to the ports and various service providers, but that’s not necessarily true of all the lines that we work with. So, as an agent, we kind of join the dots between the cruise lines and all the various stakeholders, ports, government bodies, volunteers, basically everybody that’s involved in the smooth running of a port of call.”

Ambassador’s Hughes said: “The port agents are the genuine glue that binds us all together. So, it’s very tempting for a cruise operator to think, you know, I’ll take my ship wherever I like, but we need to work with the port partners. The port agents’ role is absolutely critical in making sure that it all gets delivered smoothly. This summit is brilliant in bringing together all corners of the sector, from both cruise and tourism, so we can have more conversations together as an industry.”

The general manager of Liverpool Cruise Port, John Mawer, from Global Ports Holding, echoes those words: “Partnerships are really important; we don’t work well in siloes. It’s about sharing ideas, networking, supporting each other and attending events like this [the UK Cruise Tourism Summit]. It’s all about having strength in numbers and sharing with one another at events. We all have commercial responsibilities but in terms of being an open book, we need to look at how, together, we can show a strong regional or national offer for when the cruise lines come to the UK,  thus creating the best offering and not just looking at our own business.”

In his closing remarks of the summit, David Dingle, chair of Carnival UK and chair of CLIA in the UK, said: “It’s important that we work together to maximise the benefits of cruise tourism and to help to spread the benefits of cruise tourism even further across the UK. We hope that this is achieved by more collaboration across government through a shared vision on what a successful cruise industry looks like in the UK and through cruise being properly considered in all the UK’s and the devolved administrations’ tourism strategies. We look forward to doing this through the cruise industry government forum, the Visitor Economy Advisory Council and through continued collaboration with the cruise industry.”

Andy Harmer, managing director of CLIA UK & Ireland, added: “Cruise plays a vital role in the UK’s visitor economy, supporting many of our coastal communities, and enabling international guests from all over the world to see some of the very best that the country has to offer. To help grow the benefits of cruise tourism, it is important that we continue to work with governments, visitor groups and other key partners, so that we can sustainably grow cruise tourism in the UK and ensure a great experience for both our guests and local residents.”

Cruise & Ferry will publish an interview with Harmer next week, covering 2025/26 cruise trends, changing passenger demands, CLIA’s work with various partners in the cruise industry and his role on tourism taskforce set up by the UK government.