Philipsburg- The Port of St. Maarten will be represented at the 15th Annual Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Conference and Trade Show which starts on Monday, October 27 in Trinidad & Tobago.Commissioner of Port Affairs Theo Heyliger will be leading a delegation comprising of members of the supervisory board and other officials.
It is the first time that harbour officials from St. Martin have joined up with Dutch port officials to represent the island at the cruise shipping conference.
More than 1200 cruise industry partners and more than 100 cruise executives from the FCCA member lines will be present to discuss a full agenda.
The conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the capital of Port of Spain. The event showcases Caribbean and Latin America destinations, services and products and represents a primary venue for vendors and member cruise lines spanning the globe from Europe to the Caribbean.
The Conference includes a series of round table discussions hosted by executives from the FCCA Member Lines. Topics covered will be marketing, shore excursions and operations. Of particular interest this year, guest speakers will focus on the economic forecast for the cruise industry as it relates to the well-publicized American economy.
The FCCA Conference is the only event that also offers pre-set meetings with select Cruise Executives on a One-on-One basis for pre-registered Delegates. This is the perfect opportunity to meet with key players, analyze industry trends and discuss current issues.
"There are some major challenges currently going on with the global economy, and the financial credit crisis. Before that we had the high oil prices, but those have dropped to a 16-month low.
"The FCCA Conference offers an opportunity for the Port of St. Maarten to get an update on current cruise market trends and developments; and secondly, it also offers us the opportunity to give a status update of our cruise destination since the passing of Hurricane Omar.
"Our presence once again at the FCCA Conference is very important especially in these challenging times. We look forward to meeting with our cruise partners and assessing new opportunities for the Port of St. Maarten," Harbour Group of Companies Managing Director Mark Mingo said on Friday.
The FCCA Conference and Trade Show will conclude on October 31.