Under the name of Almería Cruise Club, the Port of Almería and tourism institutions and companies have met at the technical conference “Almería Cruise Club: Coordination, institutional collaboration and innovation in promotion as a cruise destination”.
The event was opened by Trinidad Cabeo, President of the Port Authority of Almería, accompanied by the Delegate of Tourism of the Junta de Andalucía in Almería, Alfredo Valdivia.
The first panel discussion focused on promoting the destination from an institutional perspective. Since the plan's approval in June 2014, Andalusian ports have been developing a joint promotion and communication strategy for cruise tourism, notable for its innovative initiatives, such as the creation of the "Andalucía Cruises" brand, among others.
The second panel included port agents and tourism promoters, along with businesspeople offering new tourism products to the cruise market, explaining their vision of this business and the growth possibilities it represents for Almería.
The third working group brought together representatives from the government with business owners and merchants, highlighting the importance of institutional collaboration as key to the success of a cruise destination. One of the most important initiatives launched by Almería Cruise Club is the creation of a network of "Cruise-Friendly" establishments, which already includes around twenty businesses.
To conclude the day, a training and innovation roundtable was set up in which tourism companies in Almería were encouraged to innovate their tourism offerings, the content of their communication, and their access to digital networks and platforms.
In the words of Trinidad Cabeo, President of the Port Authority of Almería, “cruise tourism activity in the Port of Almería and in the rest of the Andalusian ports is showing very positive figures. More than forty cruise ships will call at our port this year. This is the result of continuous coordination between the port, tourism institutions, and companies in the tourism and port sector. The objective of this meeting is to establish a ten-point plan of priorities to continue strengthening the commercial position of the port and the destination, both locally with tools such as the “Almería Cruise Club” product club and regionally through the development of the Andalusian Cruise Plan in collaboration with Turismo Andaluz.”.
