Cruise Lines Increase Calls to Antigua
Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line have increased their number of calls to Antigua. This announcement was made during the 15th annual Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Cruise Conference and Trade Show, held in Trinidad. Several local tourism officials attended the conference.
Director General of Tourism Cortwright Marshall, President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association (ABCTA) Nathan Dundas and, General Manager of the Antigua Pier Group Conrad Pole were among representatives from Antigua and Barbuda.
During an interview with the Antigua Sun, Dundas said a number of meetings were held with Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Holland America Cruises.
The cruise lines expressed their continued satisfaction with Antigua as a port of call and reiterated their continued support for the destination by including Antigua in their itinerary.
“Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines have put on additional vessels to Antigua and we expect to see the re-emergence of the Celebrity brand back to the Antigua market.” In one of the main discussion meetings, Dundas said Antigua was highlighted as one of the exemplary ports of calls due to the operation and functions of the A&BCTA.
According to him, the cruise lines are encouraging the formation of cruise associations in the various Caribbean destinations. Vice President of Carnival Cruise Lines, Amilar Cascais, mentioned Antigua and Barbuda favorably as an outstanding port that holds fruitful discussions with the cruise lines through the collaboration between the private sector and public sector, toward the betterment of the cruise tourism interests.
The tradeshow reportedly attracted over 1,000 cruise industry partners and more than 100 cruise executives from the FCCA Member Lines.
The conference included a series of round table discussions hosted by executives from the FCCA Member Lines. Topics covered included marketing, shore excursions and operations. Of particular interest this year, guest speakers focused on the economic forecast for the cruise industry as it relates to the well-publicized American economy.
