Discover More with CLIA Ireland and the UK media brunch

#Travelbizconnect #Travelbizhub #CLIAEurope #Discovermore

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) UK & Ireland team of Andy Harmer OBE (Managing Director), Julie Green (Deputy Director General for Europe), Kay Greenway (Director, Cruise Britain) and Adam Newman (Senior Strategic Communications Manager CLIA) hosted a brunch for Irish travel media, attended by Travelbiz Features Editor Declan Mescall, at the Spencer Hotel Dublin. The event was held ahead of this year’s CLIA Cruise Week Destination Showcase which will take place in Gibraltar from September 16-22 with this year’s theme #DiscoverMore.

Cruise Week, being held for the second year, will feature visits on Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam and Azamara Quest, and include business sessions and networking. To highlight the guest experiences that are available in Gibraltar, the Showcase will also include a raft of activities, all with the theme of #DiscoverMore. They will include the chance to visit the Mons Cape Suite by cable car, evening events at the Rock Hotel and St Michael’s Cave, and a choice of shore excursions.

Andy Hammer said “Last year’s Showcase in Porto was a great success, with agents able to broaden their knowledge and understanding of cruise destinations through an ideal mix of ship visits and excursions, expert insight and networking with industry colleagues. This year’s event will be no different and we’re eagerly anticipating hosting our trade partners in Gibraltar, which is a vibrant cruise hub and always provides visitors with a wonderful warm welcome “.

Andy, Julie and Kay outlined several interesting statistics including that 2023 was a record year for cruising from the UK and Ireland markets with a total of 2.3million cruise pax with just under 60,000 being Irish guests. The UK and Ireland markets have recovered faster than any other markets post Covid. The upward trend in bookings from multi-generational parties of 3 generations or more continues to grow. In the 3 months of Q1 2024 the Irish market has recorded an increase of 43% on last year’s travelled numbers. The Mediterranean destinations are the most popular with Irish and British cruisers and Northern Europe is second followed by the Atlantic Islands of the Canaries next then the Caribbean. There has been a 53% increase in expedition cruising. Eight new sea going cruise ships will enter the market this year as well as twelve river cruise vessels. The global objective of the cruise industry is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The current global fleet of cruise ships amounts to about 300 vessels. The majority of the public book their cruises through the travel trade and in the case of the British and Irish markets this amounts to 75% of all bookings while the average cruise duration is 10 days.