Port St. Maarten is being represented this week at the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) PAMAC meeting in Aruba. PAMAC brings together Platinum Members of the FCCA who meet with over 30 high-ranking FCCA Member Line cruise executives as part of a relationship and business building process.
Port St. Maarten representatives will be delivering the news that for five consecutive months (January – May), cruise numbers have been positive showing a 5.1% growth when compared to the same period of 2016.
The destination received during the past five months 923,600 cruise passengers from 347 cruise calls.
PAMAC will kick-off with a reception on Wednesday evening and thereafter a series of meetings and networking events are planned for Thursday and Friday to discuss industry trends and standards and develop relationships and mutual benefits for the cruise lines and members’, companies and destinations.
Representing the Port will be Bertrand Peters, General and Government Affairs, and Ichel Moeslikan, Sales and Marketing, and Alexander Gumbs, Business Development Officer as well as a representative from the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, Cherinah Franken, Product Development Officer.
“Reinventing Cruise St. Maarten is an on-going process for Port St. Maarten. We are looking forward to attending PAMAC in order to renew our relations with the cruise line industry and to attract additional cruise business for the country.
“We want to continue to foster mutual growth. It’s an opportunity to network and better understand each other especially when we look at different cruise industry developments,” Port St. Maarten Management Team said on Monday.
The PAMAC event is one of many that the FCCA coordinates for its Platinum Members and Member Lines to stay at the forefront of information about both the industry and destinations while finding ways to maximize the benefits for all.
The FCCA is a not-for-profit trade organization composed of 19 Member Lines operating over 100 vessels in Floridian, Caribbean and Latin American waters. Created in 1972, the FCCA’s mandate is to provide a forum for discussion on tourism development, ports, safety, security, and other cruise industry issue and to develop bilateral relationships with destinations’ private and public sectors. By fostering an understanding of the cruise industry and its operating practices, the FCCA works with governments, ports and private sector representatives to maximize cruise passenger, crew and cruise line spending, as well as enhance the destination experience and increase the amount of cruise passengers returning as stay-over visitors.
The PAMAC conference is taking place in Aruba at the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino.