Australian Cruise Association names speakers for Adelaide conference

The coastal capital of South Australia was the venue for what was then Cruise Down Under’s 2002 and 2009 annual conferences.

The international speakers include Holland America Line/Seabourn Director Shore Excursions & Future Cruises Jessica Ashe and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings EVP and CCO Chad Berkshire.

Regional presentation

A regional presentation will be given by Leigh Howard from Tourism Fiji, building on ACA’s commitment to working closely with neighbouring destinations.

Local speakers will include Royal Caribbean International VP and MD Australasia Gavin Smith, Norwegian Cruise Line MD and VP Asia Pacific Ben Angell, Celebrity Cruises’ VP and MD Australia and APAC Tim Jones and Carnival Cruise Line SVP and Country Manager Peter Little, who was recently named chairman of Cruise Lines International Association Australasia.

There will be a focus on destination development at the conference, where Mark Koolmatrie, the Aboriginal founder of Kool Tours, will speak about the cultural walking tours he operates.

Conference theme

‘As we look towards the next phase of the exciting and ever-changing cruise market in our region, we need to be open to ideas that continue to advance cruise as a sustainable and vital pillar of Australia’s visitor economy,’ CEO Jill Abel said.

Abel said there will be robust discussion and sharing of ideas with the ACA membership and the cruise community that will ultimately ‘steer us towards continuing success.’

Hence the conference theme — ‘Steering Ideas to Success.’

Around 150 delegates are expected to attend ACA 2024 which is being supported by the South Australian Tourist Commission and Flinders Port Holdings.

Early bird rates are available for bookings made by July 31.