CEO Mingo representing Port St. Maarten at Seatrade Med Cruise Convention

Port St. Maarten – Port St. Maarten Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Mingo is leading a delegation to Seatrade Med Cruise Convention that is taking place from September 16-18 in Barcelona, Spain. The St. Maarten delegation is scheduled to arrive in Spain on Monday.

 

Seatrade Med Cruise Convention is a major biennial cruise event focused on the world’s second largest cruise destination – the Mediterranean. The cruise convention is being held at Fira de Barcelona Gran Via Conference Centre.

 

The purpose of the trip is to inform the European cruise lines about the 21st Annual Florida Caribbean Cruise Conference & Exhibition (FCCA) which is being hosted by destination St. Maarten from October 6 – 10.

 

European cruise lines are also growing as European cruise passenger numbers increase; cruise lines are building more ships to accommodate this growth.

 

In terms of ship deployments, the Caribbean accounts for 37.3 per cent of all global itineraries followed by the Southern Europe/Mediterranean 18.9 per cent and Northern Europe 11.1 per cent. For 2014, Northern Europe has seen a 5.2 percent increase in ship deployments.

 

“An invitation will be extended to European cruise lines for those who have not yet signed up for the FCCA Cruise Conference being hosted on the ‘Friendly Island’. These are important partners for destination St. Maarten.

 

“Attending Seatrade Med also allows us to renew relationships with European lines and give them an update on how we are doing as a destination, and what we foresee for the mid to long-term. The conference will bring together industry players in a business that continues to grow on an annual basis.

 

“Despite global economic challenges, the cruise sector as part of global tourism continues to have the greatest potential for growth. In 2013, an estimated 21.3 million people took a cruise worldwide. St. Maarten as a cruise port is in the process of re-inventing itself.

 

“As a destination we have 50-years this year in cruising, but for country St. Maarten as a cruise destination to be around for another 50-years, we are need to re-invent ourselves as a destination and the port along with all stakeholders are working diligently to make this happen,” CEO Mark Mingo said on Sunday from Spain.

 

Med Cruise is a sponsor of Seatrade Med, the Mediterranean’s largest gathering of cruise lines, ports and destination and cruise community.

 

In 2012 approximately 6.1 million Europeans took a cruise which is a new record. The majority of cruise passengers come from the United Kingdom, accounting for 8.1 per cent of global passenger share in 2013. They are then followed by the Germans at 7.7 percent, and Italians at 4 per cent.

 

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and its cruise line members are looking forward to a positive growth with a 2014 passenger forecast of 21.7 million worldwide guests on CLIA’s 63 member lines.

 

24 new ships will be introduced in the 2014-2015 market adding a total passenger capacity of 37,546, representing a capital investment of approximately US$8 billion in ocean going and river cruise categories.

 

Also forming part of the delegation are Port St. Maarten representatives Hector Peters, and Lela Simmonds.

 

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

 

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com, and also via www.sxmparliament.org.