Port of Galveston and local tourism officials join in marketing effort for port of call

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Category: Ports & Destinations

Published on Friday, 18 January 2013 21:59

Written by Teijo Niemelä

While the Port of Galveston was making inroads into the home port segment of the cruise industry, Galveston had sporadic visits from a variety of world travelers who travel the seas on cruise ships that offer more exotic vacation options.

The Port and local tourism officials have developed a working group to explore how Galveston could market its established Texas tourism image as a “port of call” to show off the island’s many sites and attractions to visitors who arrive by ship looking for a taste of Texas.

The Port understands the itinerary planning process and knows that cruise lines plan more than a year in advance for upcoming cruise seasons. Galveston was patient in developing its home port market, and hopes that its current popularity will encourage opportunities for the port of call market.

To kick off this effort the Port is helping the Galveston Park Board by making space available to install large wayfinding signs at the cruise terminals. The signs are large maps and photos of nearby attractions and provides directions to other activities and sites close to the terminal.

Port Director, Mike Mierzwa enthusiastically supported the sign installation saying, “The Port needs to work with local tourism officials to promote Galveston Island as a destination to expand the Port’s mission as an economic engine for the local economy.  The Port now has the marine infrastructure to handle almost every size ship and port of call cruises could bring hundreds of visitors to the historic downtown, seasonal festivals, and other attractions that make Galveston a vacation mecca for Texans”.

“Working with the Port is a perfect combination to highlight the Port’s maritime facilities and Galveston Island’s tourist attractions”, stated Kelly de Shaun, Executive Director of Galveston Island’s tourism board. “This collaborative effort will provide the cruise lines with inclusive packet with operational capabilities, available tour options and general information about the Galveston region”.

The Port plans to survey and proactively solicit cruise operators and foreign travel agencies that promote charter and group cruise sailings looking for new destinations for their itineraries.  The completion of the Panama Canal expansion, Central American destinations and the tried and true Caribbean island stops make an interesting assortment of ports and can include Galveston in diverse itinerary packages.

The Port of Galveston, Texas’ Star Cruise Port serves as the primary point of embarkation for cruises to the western Caribbean and the Bahamas will service an estimated one million cruise passengers in 2012. Four cruise lines, Carnival Cruise Lines, Disney Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean, sail from Texas’ only cruise port.

Port Everglades celebrates grand re-opening for four renovated cruise terminals

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Category: Ports & Destinations

Published on Wednesday, 19 December 2012 15:53

Written by Teijo Niemelä

State and local public officials joined executives from Carnival Corporation and the six Carnival brands that sail from Port Everglades to celebrate the Grand Re-Opening of four fully renovated, expanded and modernized cruise terminals that opened in time for this year’s busy cruise season at the South Florida cruise port.

Cruise Terminals 2, 19, 21 and 26 are part of a $54 million renovation project that transformed existing facilities into modern, world-class, guest-friendly cruise terminals, capable of processing both debarking and embarking cruise passengers simultaneously.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott issued a press release saying that he applauded the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) investment of $9 million to reconstruct and modernize four cruise terminals at Port Everglades. Richard Biter, FDOT Assistant Secretary for Intermodal Systems Development, represented Gov. Scott at the ceremony on December 12 and told the crowd of about 200 people: “Florida is the cruise capital of the U.S. and ranked first in the nation for cruise industry expenditures with $6.7 billion in direct spending, accounting for 35 percent of total industry direct expenditures.”

During the ceremony, Carnival Corporation’s Giora Israel, Senior Vice President of Global Ports Development, presented a monetary donation to Pastor Paul Schweinler to purchase items for the Port Everglades Seafarers’ House Shoebox Christmas gift drive.

Port Everglades committed to modernizing the terminals as part of an agreement, finalized in April 2010, between Carnival Corporation and the Broward County Board of County Commissioners, the governing body for Port Everglades. The landmark agreement, one of the largest in Carnival's history, calls for a minimum of 25.5 million cruise guests from multiple Carnival Corporation brands to sail to and from Port Everglades over the initial 15-year term, which will potentially produce almost half-a-billion dollars in Port revenue.

“Carnival Corporation and its cruise lines that are here at Port Everglades – Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn – account for nearly half (43%) of the cruise business at Port Everglades. Carnival is an important business partner for Broward County and we are happy to celebrate your success,” said Broward County Vice Mayor Barbara Sharief. “The cruise industry is a major contributor to the economic health of our tourism-based community in Broward County. Not only do cruise companies such as Carnival Corporation bring jobs and revenue to our Port, but they also bring guests who visit our hotels and resorts, and support the small businesses and attractions that are the lifeblood of our economy. In Broward County alone, the cruise industry accounts for nearly 12,000 jobs and contributes $1.8 billion in local economic activity each year.”

Port Everglades Chief Executive & Port Director Steven Cernak, told the audience that the goal for the cruise terminal renovations was, “to deliver an expeditious and seamless curbside to ship guest experience.”

“Cruise ports today are challenged with the task of providing state-of-the-art facilities that can keep pace with and support their customers’ needs, and the cruise lines, as we know, are always on the cutting edge of the hospitality industry. Our cruise terminals must be efficient inside for quick embarkation and debarkation. Outside there must be an organized system for taxi, shuttles, buses and private vehicles to safely pick up and drop off cruise guests. We need state-of-the-art security facilities for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, enough room to lay down 2.5 pieces of luggage per person during debarkation, Wi-Fi for waiting cruise guests, clear directional signs and aesthetics that warmly welcome the more than 3.6 million people who start and finish their cruise vacations at Port Everglades annually.”

Broward County's Public Works Department, Seaport Engineering & Construction Division oversaw the renovations. Moss & Associates was the general contractor, and Bermello Ajamil & Partners, Inc. was the terminal architect and project construction administrator.

Construction work for the cruise terminal created an estimated 1,000 construction jobs, equating to $40.7 million in personal income and $3.7 million in state and local taxes, according to an economic impact study by nationally recognized maritime research firm Martin Associates.

Port Everglades is one of the leading cruise ports worldwide with more than 3.6 million passengers each year and homeporting more cruise ships than any other cruise port worldwide. Twelve cruise lines and 42 cruise ships sail from the South Florida seaport including: Balearia's Bahamas Express, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Cunard, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Silversea Cruises and Seabourn. The Port's wide-ranging fleet of cruise ships provides guests with an array of cruise vacation choices from the sunny Greater Fort Lauderdale area. Port Everglades, where the best cruise ships launch and the greatest getaways begin. Details on the latest cruise schedules from Port Everglades are available on the Internet at porteverglades.net.

Port Everglades announces new Assistant Director of Business Development

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Category: Ports & Destinations

Published on Wednesday, 16 January 2013 21:22

Written by Teijo Niemelä

Fred Stribling, a 30-year veteran of the marine terminal services industry, joins Port Everglades as Assistant Director of Business Development where he will be supporting the South Florida seaport’s marketing efforts under the direction of Business Development Director Michael Vanderbeek, announced Port Everglades Chief Executive & Port Director Steven Cernak.

Prior to joining Port Everglades, Stribling served as Vice President, Marketing & Sales for the South Carolina State Ports Authority, responsible for all ocean carrier and cargo sales, pricing, marketing and advertising. Stribling started his career in ocean shipping as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army before joining Sea-Land Service’s management training program. He handled cargo sales in the greater Philadelphia area and Central Florida before being appointed to Sea-Land’s National Quality Team. Among other positions at Sea-Land, Stribling was Port Manager at the container terminal in Baltimore, MD, and Director of Client Services for Sea-Land’s 12-terminal North American Network. In addition to his commercial experience in ocean shipping, Stribling has spent more than two decades loading ships for the military. In 2001, he was awarded the Order of Saint Christopher Medal for significant contributions to the Army Transportation Corps and retired from his service as an Army officer in 2002.

Stribling is active in several professional transportation organizations, and has served as Chair of the Defense Committee for the American Association of Port Authorities, was a committee member of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Science, and served four years as the President of the National Defense Transportation Association’s Charleston, SC, chapter. During his tenure, the chapter was recognized three times as International Chapter of the Year. In 2012 Stribling worked as a Loaned Executive with Trident United Way based in North Charleston, SC.
 
Stribling earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tampa and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Born in central New Jersey, Stribling was raised on Kwajalein Island in the Central/South Pacific.

Forth Ports' Tilbury and Edinburgh cruise terminals expect strong 2013

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Category: Ports & Destinations

Published on Wednesday, 05 December 2012 11:24

Written by Kari Reinikainen

Forth Ports, which owns the International Cruise Terminals in London (Tilbury) and two facilities on the Forth (Edinburgh), says it has closed the 2012 cruise season on a high and is looking forward to a bumper 2013.

The London International Cruise Terminal at Tilbury has seen 35 home port calls in 2011/2012, from Cruise & Maritime Voyages, Holland America and Noble Caledonia; and three tourist calls welcoming passengers from the UK, Spain, US, South America, Russia and Japan. The port also saw ten days of C&MV promotional events, including a number of overnight ‘cruise’ experiences. This activity has led to a footfall of close to 50,000 guests through the London International Cruise Terminal.

Tilbury provides easy access to all major airports and passengers can travel with ease to all the sites the city of London has to offer by high speed river-bus, road or rail.

The ports in Edinburgh and Rosyth have also had an extremely busy 2012 season, welcoming a wide range of cruise ships across the season. The Scottish ports have seen an impressive 76 cruise liners calling at the ports, allowing the teams to welcome around 80,000 passengers to visit the local areas. The Port of Leith in Edinburgh has been particularly busy, receiving calls from high-end luxury liners such as Seabourn Soujourn, the Azamara Journey, Silver Cloud and Silver Whisper.

Edinburgh holds fantastic potential as a home port in Scotland’s capital city, with all the culture and activities that it offers. Bookings for 2013 and 2014 are already strong with 68 vessels confirmed for the Scottish Ports and 40 in 2013 and 30 confirmed October 2014 for the London International Cruise Terminal at Tilbury.