Ports & destinations

SATS consortium pulls out of Singapore Cruise Centre acquisition

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 15 May 2014 15 May 2014

A consortium comprising SATS Airport Services and SATS Creuers Cruise Service, both parts of Singapore Airport tErminals Services (SATS) group, and Hazeltree Holding, the current owner of Singapore Cruise Centre, have decided to terminate talks about the sale of the facility to the consortium.

“The Purchasers and the Vendor have agreed not to proceed with the Acquisition and to terminate the SPA due to market developments in Asia. The non-completion of the Acquisition is not expected to have a material financial impact on SATS,” the company said in a statement

Said Mr Alex Hungate, President and CEO of SATS: “This announcement does not in any way alter SATS’ commitment to grow our successful operations at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre and to promote Singapore as a homeport, nor our ambition to pursue regional cruise opportunities. We remain confident about the prospects for the Asian cruise market and will continue to actively pursue value-creating opportunities to implement our strategy of growing scale and enhancing connectivity.”

Twelve cruise ships at the 825th anniversary of the German port of Hamburg

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 14 May 2014 14 May 2014

Over the weekend from the 9 until the 11May 2014, twelve cruise ships visited the Port of Hamburg and were counted in total with 27 sail-by passages in front of the Landungsbrücken landing stages.

“Overall, 37,000 cruise passengers were handled during the three days of celebration. The cruise ships prominently showed themselves to the nearly one million visitors of the Port Anniversary, who were able to experience the ocean giants’ close-up,” Hamburg Cruise Centre that operates two cruise terminals in the German city, said in a statement

FCCA announces official hotel for the 21st annual Conference & Trade Show

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 29 April 2014 29 April 2014

The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) has selected of the Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa as the official hotel for the 2014 Conference & Trade Show, taking place in St. Maarten from October 6-10.

Nestled in a lush hillside and facing Dawn Beach, the Westin will host the Conference & Trade Show's events while providing attendees with beautiful views, beach access and numerous amenities to help balance business and pleasure, such as complimentary high speed Internet access, a business center, a fitness center, spa facilities, a casino and more.

"We are proud to partner with St. Maarten's top hotel," told Michele Paige, FCCA president. "The Westin's comfort, convenience and amenities will help attendees have a productive and enjoyable trip, leading to a successful event for all."

Attendees are urged to reserve rooms as quickly as possible due to the property's limited availability. Bookings with the event's special rates are available directly online (http://goo.gl/2LUAWo), telephone(1-800-937-8461, SET#432544 for property 1770) or by contacting Matt Karam (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

The FCCA Conference & Trade Show-the largest cruise conference in theCaribbean-will gather over 1,000 stakeholders from all sectors the cruise tourism industry, along with over 100 FCCA Member Line cruise executives, presidents and CEOs. Attendees will have access to these key decision makers during a four-day series of business sessions and networking opportunities, including one-on-one meetings, workshops and social functions.

To register for and/or learn more about the Conference & Trade Show, please visit https://www.regonline.com/fccastmaarten.

Canary Islands re-discovers itself for cruise

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 02 May 2014 02 May 2014

Promotur, Turismo Canarias - the organization responsible for the promotion of tourism in the Canary Islands is developing a long term Cruise Tourism Strategic Plan for the archipelago and has retained the Cruise Port and Destination Development firm of Bermello Ajamil and Partners Europe (BA Europe) to deliver this assignment.

The project kick-off and first stakeholder outreach meetings took place at the beginning of April in the Canary Islands. Representatives from the local port authorities of Puertos de Estado, tourism institutions from Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro, tourism promotional agencies, Canary Islands Government, Puertos de Canarias, international and local port agents, tour operators and other industry players are all part of the outreach efforts led by the Mark Ittel and Luis e Carvalho from the BA Europe Team.

The purpose of these initial meetings was to collect feedback from all the parties involved in the cruise business and to align everyone’s purposes to develop a common strategy and action plan where everyone shares responsibilities and contributes to the “re-discovery” of the Canaries as a cruise destination.

"Turismo de Canarias is keen to implement the study recommendations as we believe it is necessary to have a common strategy that illustrates our advantages over other competing destinations worldwide and helps us to improve all aspects that can weigh on the consolidation of the Canary Islands as a cruise destination in the coming years. We believe that there are great opportunities to further explore the untapped potential and offers on our 7 very different islands to regular visitors but also to further attract new consumer markets from the EU, US and beyond" , informed Tourism Promotur de Canarias.

The proximity of the islands to the Mediterranean, Madeira, Azores, main land Portugal, North Africa, West Africa and Cape Verde in addition to being strategically located for transatlantic and re-positioning cruises is an added value that will be further explored.
Recently the Canary Islands experienced an evolution in the number of cruise visitors reaching its peak in 2012 with 1.725.889 passengers on all islands.

In 2013 the number has decreased slightly to 1.624.473 passengers (-5,9%) which presents a very powerful argument to implement a global strategy for cruise tourism to assure a prosperous cruise tourism growth for the islands.

“This is a long-term project that will require a lot of work and commitment from everyone involved, and that is also the secret of our success – Team Work. Our ultimate goals include improving the image of Canarias as a cruise destination and ensuring that we keep growing our cruise business in a sustainable manner for years to come. In the process we wish not only for cruise lines to improve their revenue opportunities and guest satisfaction levels, but to also generate increased economic benefits from cruise to the local communities,” says Promotur.

MedCruise membership expanding in the Black Sea

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 29 April 2014 29 April 2014

MedCruise membership expands in the Black Sea with the Port of Trabzon being the latest port in the region to express the wish to be member of the MedCruise family. MedCruise President Stavros Hatzakos and Secretary General Thanos Pallis completed an invited visit to Trabzon that has already applied to be a new member of the association.

MedCruise is now representing cruise ports hosting more than 80% of cruise traffic in the Med and its adjoining seas - more on the issue to follow.

During their visit, the MedCruise team held meetings and discussed the prospects of cruise expansion in the region with the Governor of Trabzon Honorable Mr. A. Celil Öz, the Mayor of Trabzon Mr. O. Fevzi Gümrükçüoğlu, the President of the Trabzon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. M. Suat Hacisalihoğlu and the General Manager of Trabzon Port (Alport Port) Mr. Muzaffer Ermiş.

The application of the port of the Trabzon has been submitted at the same time with that of the port of Istanbul (Salıpazarı Liman İşletmeciliğive Yatırımları A.Ş.) marking the increased significance of MedCruise in promoting cruise activities in the Med and its adjoining seas.

The completion of the accession to the 70-port members strong MedCruise will be formalised during the 44th MedCruise Association in Castellon Spain, the key cruise event of the Spring in Europe, to be held 21-25 May 2014.