MedCruise president, Airam Diaz Pastor, and MedCruise director for North Africa, Cherifa Ben Salem, together with the Tunisian Minster for Transport, Hichem Ben Ahmed, Tunisian Minister for Tourism, Renée Trabelsi, the ceo of the Office de la Marine Marchande et des Ports(OMMP), Sami Battikh, the gm of Al Karama Holding, Adel Grar, and Port La Goulette director, Mohamed Omrane, met last week in Tunis to discuss the new initiative.
The Working Group includes regional MedCruise members - Port of Tangier, Port of Ceuta, Tunisian Ports and Egyptian Ports - as well as associate members such as La Goulette Shipping Cruise, Mercantile Marine Shipping, Algeria Cruise Services and Ceuta Tourism Board.
MedCruise director for events and Port of Gibraltar representative, Nicky Guerrero, and MedCruise ambassador, Lotfi El Ajmi, also attended the meeting during which a road map was drawn up listing actions to be implemented in the coming months.
Outlook for North Africa optimistic
MedCruise's president highlighted the potential of the region due to the increase in tourism in Northern African countries and the optimistic forecast for the coming years.
‘The launching of this Working Group will have a positive impact at the cruise industry in the whole Mediterranean region and bring new opportunities to cruise-related companies that operate here,’ he added.
Salem stressed the ‘necessity of working together and sharing best practices among the Working Group members, which will lead to a common strategy for promotion.’
The group will meet next in Kusadasi, during the upcoming MedCruise General Assembly taking place May 7-10, 2019 and hold another meeting later this year in the Port of Alexandria, Egypt.
Last October, MedCruise launched a Working Group to promote cruising in the Black Sea at a meeting in Odessa.
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