Figureheads from the world’s leading cruise lines head to Hong Kong

HONG KONG/LONDON - In less than a week, cruise industry professionals from around the world will be heading to the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, for Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific. The fourth edition of this annual event comes to Hong Kong for the first time with the Hong Kong Tourism Board as the Official Event Partner. Returning to the event this year will be the two-day conference and full exhibition featuring the fastest emerging sectors in the Asian cruise industry including market potential and challenges, infrastructure and itinerary development, shipbuilding and refurbishment, and passenger sourcing in Asia especially in China.

The conference will begin with a welcome address from Michael Duck, Global Maritime Director & EVP, UBM Asia Ltd, and a keynote address with an update on the future of the Asian Cruise Industry by Anthony Lau, Executive Director at Hong Kong Tourism Board. These will be followed by Global and Asian cruise industry outlooks led by Christine Duffy, President & CEO, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), and Zinan Liu, Chairman, CLIA North Asia, and President, China and North Asia for Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited.

The opening session will continue with ‘The State of the Cruise Industry in Asia’. The momentum for cruise tourism in Asia has taken a step change this year, with announcements from major cruise lines of significant increases in capacity. With a penetration rate of just 0.1%, many Asians have a low awareness of cruise tourism but a high receptivity towards it. In this session, some of the industry's leading voices will give their views on the scale and nature of Asia's potential and the challenges which growth has on this.

In addition to the conference, there will be a two-day travel agent training programme, developed by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and presented by renowned trainer Peter Kollar, this comprehensive education program will help agents better understand the cruise industry's value and revenue potential, and ensure the development of the retail cruise business moving forward in Asia.

There will also be the opportunity for all visitors and exhibitors to attend a new, complimentary session - The Cruise Line/Port Interface Workshop. In an effort to help drive forward the port infrastructure and development within the Pan-Asia cruise region, this one hour workshop will be lead by both Bruce Krumrine, (Vice President, Shore Operations, Princess Cruises), and John Tercek, (VP, Commercial & New Business Development, Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited, and Member of the CLIA Global Ports Committee). This free of charge workshop will be focusing around how ports and destinations should structure their terminal and infrastructure development and will be promoting the opportunity for economic growth within the region.

Complementing both the conference and travel agent training is the showcase exhibition, featuring product sectors including destinations, itinerary planning, shore excursion services, port and terminal development as well as ship operations, ship services and hotel operations.

sourced:traveldailynews.asia