Case study 1: North-Western European Cruising Region
Case study 2: Destination management – the case of Dubrovnik
Chaired by industry expert Luis De Carvalho, CEO, Bermello Ajamil & Partners Europe, the session involved round table discussions with the goal of identifying:
1 - How to establish a successful cruise region
2 - How to minimise tourism congestion at a destination
Energetic conversation
Table host Helen Beck, VP International Sales and Marketing, Crystal Cruises was inspired by the session: ‘Along with participants ranging from PHD research students to a DMC from Costa Rica, I had the pleasure of moderating a table charged with discussing the key elements to consider when establishing an effective cruise region.’
Beck shared, ‘The conversation was energetic and varied with plenty of great ideas as to how to achieve success and I felt that we all learned from each other. My key takeaway from the discussion was that without understanding, patience and collaboration between the various stakeholders involved in establishing an effective cruise region – both private and public - it is unlikely to happen and the establishment of a committee of the key interested parties would help drive a successful outcome.’
At the end of the discussions, conclusions from each table were shared and agreed by everyone in the room.
Top key takeaways on establishing a cruise region included:
- Create an identity/story of the region to make it stand out from other regions
- Education of the ports and local community to ensure that they understand the benefits of cruise.
- Facilitate two-way communication between the stakeholders in the destination/region and the cruise lines and the region should listen to the cruise lines to understand what they are looking for.
- Create a regional strategy for cruise and measure performance and make improvements
- Draw up unique selling points for each destination to match with the right cruise lines and to differentiate the destinations in the region
- One approach could be to categorize destinations in the region based on themes to help match with the cruise lines.
Particpant Andrea Kamjunke, commercial director of Columbus Cruise Centre Bremerhaven and Wismar told Seatrade, ‘I enjoyed the opportunity at the Seatrade Europe roundtable to talk to cruise line execs and port/destination colleagues of a common geographical area at the same time and to listen to them and it’s always good to hear about the different needs for large and small vessels and their passengers directly from the people involved in the planning.’
Top key takeaways on minimizing tourism congestion at a destination included:
- Communication: create a working group/network of local stakeholders (at each destination) to ensure communication and collaboration
- Improve communication between local stakeholders, cruise lines, the community and NGOs
- Listen to and involve the communities to ensure support and make sure they understand the benefits of cruise
- Social media – respond to the negative communication and create dialogue
- Do a better job at sharing the positive stories
- Adjust vessels’ arrival and departure time patterns – collaborate with the cruise lines (itinerary planners)
- Distribute the passengers into various areas of the destination by offering alternative shorex and using technology create events to attract passengers and pull the passengers away from the hot-spots and bring them to less visited areas
- Know your limitations at port and destination level
- And use the right figures when discussing congestion – ‘get the facts right’
- Define what sustainability means to each destination.
- Be strategic in your promotional efforts targeting the consumers.
Creating a mutual understanding
At the end of the session de Carvalho told Seatrade, ‘We are going through some very interesting times in our industry and now more than ever we need to agree on solutions to continue to grow in a sustainable manner. Engaging in effective dialogue by bringing all concerned parties (and experts in their own areas) to the table with specific topics and objectives to reach helps to create a mutual understanding of what needs to be done!’
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