The official magazine of the cruise industry, “Travel & Cruise,” first quarter 2018 edition, featured on its front page, ‘St. Maarten Serves as a Model of the Caribbean’s Post-Hurricane Comeback.’ The four-page feature can be found at: http://www.travelandcruise.com
Port St. Maarten Management is elated about the coverage the destination has received in this major magazine of the cruise industry. “It highlights the resiliency of the people of the country and at the same time the country’s best practices post-Irma to re-discover the destination as we rebound.”
Travel & Cruise is distributed to over 500 cruise executives; 5,000 industry partners representing all sectors of the cruise industry; and over 25,000 travel agents and 15,000 travel agencies.
Port St. Maarten along with the various stakeholders have been showcasing the progress on Island over the last five months via a strategic marketing approach to ensure the industry that the country are true partners in restoring this unique vacation destination.
“We have used many channels over the last months not by only meeting with cruise executives, but it was important for our local stakeholders to have access to the executives as well during the Island visits to assure they get the message directly that we are all onboard.
“The hard work by our team was showcased with the prominent branding throughout the Seatrade Cruise Global conference locations. Our aim is to get the wording out there, ‘St. Maarten is Open for Business,’ giving us the opportunity to further tap into the industry market share in the Eastern Caribbean.
“We further informed that discussions are being finalized for confirmed numbers for 2018 which will be released within short to the stakeholders. We are pleased with the progress thus far and look forth to a solid 2018 cruise season.
The publication also featured Port consultant Mico Cascais entitled, ‘St. Maarten’s Return to Prominence and Lessons for Other Cruise Destinations’. The veteran shore excursions executive said that, “St. Maarten was always a go to reference when often asked, what destination does it right”. He further highlighted that, he is excited for the people of St. Maarten and Port St. Maarten; they have the right momentum needed to capitalize on the industry’s growth. The activation of citizens as destination ambassadors, along with their stories and the new and improved experiences will continue to keep St. Maarten as a leading destination of choice in the Caribbean.
Port St. Maarten management concluded by saying that the team will continue to push the brand of the destination in collaboration with the local cruise related stakeholders.
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.
Established in 1975, CLIA is the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, providing a unified voice and leading authority of the global cruise community.
CLIA supports policies and practices that foster a safe, secure, healthy and sustainable cruise ship environment and is dedicated to promoting the cruise travel experience.
CLIA’s mission is to foster its members’ success by advocating, educating and promoting the common interests of the cruise community; and by representing the interests of the cruise industry community.
CLIA has 60+ cruise lines as members, from ocean to specialty cruise ships who represent more than 95 percent of global cruise capacity. CLIA Cruise Lines serve more than 24 million passengers annually.
There are also 340+ Executive Partner Members comprising of key suppliers and partners to the cruise lines. Executive partners play a major role in the successful operation of cruising, including ports & destinations, ship development, suppliers and business services.
CLIA also as a network of 15,000 Global Travel Agency and 25,000 Travel Agent Members who include the largest agencies, hosts, franchises and consortia in the world.