From 3-5 November 2004 the fifth edition of Seatrade Med brought over 3,500 maritime executives from 52 countries together for three days of business networking…
From 3-5 November 2004 the fifth edition of Seatrade Med brought over 3,500 maritime executives from 52 countries together for three days of business networking in the Italian port city of Genoa.
The exhibition included 167 exhibiting companies – with 1085 representatives – from 34 countries. Over 90% of exhibitors who completed a response form rated various aspects of the event either Excellent or Good and indicated that it met their expectations. Some reported meeting more than 50 new contacts and securing over 25 significant sales leads.
Seatrade Med`s conference was attended by 473 delegates from 49 worldwide locations. The media was represented by 94 journalists and editors. The conference`s keynote address was by European Cruise Council Chairman and Chairman & CEO of Costa Crociere SpA, Pier Luigi Foschi, who announced figures showing the Med as the top cruise destination for Europeans. Over 1.5m cruisers (59%) flocked to the region last year. In total, more than 2.6m ocean cruise holidays were taken by Europeans in 2003. Of that number, the UK represents the largest market with 962,000 passengers (36%). This figure is expected to reach the 1.05m mark in 2004. Following the UK is Germany with more than half a million cruisers (20%) and Italy with nearly 346,000 passengers (13%). The Italian figure will be buoyed in 2005 by the introduction of Costa Magica – which was docked in Genoa and was the venue for a celebration dinner for delegates.
Market analyst Tony Peisley emphasised the strength of the European market and the fact that the recent demise of certain key players had not impacted growth trends. Patrick Ryan from Royal Caribbean said, Given conservative annual growth of 6.5% – bearing in mind it has been 12% year on year since 1997 – the European market will be 10m passengers in 2020. Royal Caribbean will deploy seven ships in Europe in 2005, compared with five this year. Alfredo Serrano of Iberojet Cruises spoke about Spain, the fastest growing mainland Europe source market (approx 300,000 cruisers in 2004).
After touring the exhibition, the Chairman of easyGroup, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, gave delegates in the Cruise Product Development session an update on his plans for easyCruise. I am not an expert on cruising and, as with most start-ups, I am trying to keep all the balls in the air at the moment, he said. Followed by a Sky TV crew making a documentary about the venture, he spent the event gathering information to make decisions on which of two Med itineraries he will choose for easyCruise One.
Asked by Seatrade Insider, the official online cruise publication of Seatrade Med, what his future fleet plans were, he said he would operate easyCruise One for 12 months before making a decision. If successful, My guess is we will go and build a new ship.
During the same session, Carnival Cruise Lines` Roger Blum talked about Carnival Liberty`s entrance into the Med market in 2005. He told delegates a brand new Fun Ship shows our strong commitment to the market.
Seatrade Med`s social programme also provided some high points. The evening aboard Costa Magica, hosted by Costa Crociere, gave delegates a taste of what the cruise experience can be at its most opulent. The official dinner at the refurbished historic transatlantic liner terminal at Ponte de Mille was another key networking opportunity.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
