The eleventh edition of the International Cruise Summit in Madrid concludes with great optimism for the sector in 2022.
Article from CruisesNews magazine no. 59 – December 2021
ICS Website 2021
The eleventh edition of the International Cruise Summit, held on November 17 and 18 at the Meliá Castilla Hotel in Madrid, following all necessary health and safety protocols, focused on sustainability for shipping companies and ports, but also presented the challenges they are facing during the complete restart of their activity.
The ICS 2021 was held in person this year with a full house, demonstrating the positive outlook for the future shared by both cruise lines and ports. Indeed, more than 30 cruise ships will enter service next year. Participants expressed their satisfaction at finally being able to interact in person, as this was the first in-person international cruise event in Europe since the start of the pandemic.
It was the first in-person international cruise event since the start of the pandemic in Europe.
The event was attended by leading directors and executives from cruise lines, ports, shipping agents, and other companies in the sector. It was officially opened on Wednesday the 17th with welcoming remarks from Virginia López and David Selby, as well as from Marie-Caroline Laurent, Managing Director of CLIA Europe, and Francisco Toledo, President of Puertos del Estado (State Ports Authority), who highlighted the €600 million that will be invested in Spanish ports in the coming years for improvement projects.
Following the welcome and opening, Professor Gordon Dougan, from the Cambridge Institute of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, presented “Vaccines and immunization, what comes next”, offering an overview of the pandemic situation and the expected medical evolution in the immediate future.
Top executives such as Roberto Martinoli of Silversea Cruises, Mario Zanetti of Costa Cruises, Jonathan Daniels of Port Everglades, and Ben Boulding of Royal Caribbean Group joined a panel moderated by Virginia Quintairos of Intercruises to discuss, following the resumption of operations, the trends the industry will follow in the next 10-20 years. In this regard, the most frequently repeated word was "sustainability." Ports face significant challenges in creating infrastructure that allows ships to connect to shore power while in port so they can shut down their engines. Furthermore, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is rapidly gaining ground as an alternative fuel to fuel oil, achieving a 100% reduction in sulfur oxide emissions and a 30% reduction in CO2. Therefore, ports will also need to install infrastructure to supply this fuel to ships.
The cruise industry has committed to being carbon neutral by 2050, and in that sense, it will be essential to advance in the use of even cleaner energy sources such as hydrogen and optimize all consumption on board, both in lighting and air conditioning, kitchens, and of course, in propulsion.
Shipping companies expect a transitional first half of 2022 and a very good second half.
The event included an interview by Virginia López Valiente, CEO of the International Cruise Summit and Cruises News Media Group, with Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Cruises. Zanetti highlighted the company's rebranding, which is based on passenger concerns regarding sustainability and shorter port calls. The company has decided to increase port call times and, as a new feature, has added Turkey to its itineraries and as a port of embarkation.
In the second session, on destination recovery, moderated by Adam Coulter of Cruise Critic UK, and featuring Adam Sharp of Royal Caribbean Group, Anne-Marie Blum of Var Provence Cruise Club, Tine Oelmann of TUI Cruises, Karen Dawney of Fred Olsen Cruises, and Grethe Parker of Port of Narvik, the difficulties cruise lines face in operating in an environment where each country has different protocols and restrictions were highlighted. Furthermore, there is a shortage of tour guides and bus drivers in many destinations, as many have shifted to other sectors during the pandemic and are now needed more than ever due to reduced capacity. Tine Oelmann, in her presentation, encouraged destinations to place greater trust in the safety and robustness of cruise lines' protocols.
Cruise lines have resumed operations worldwide, and during the third session, moderated by Mark Robinson, executives such as Sander Groothuis of Carnival UK, Alessandro Carollo of Royal Caribbean Group, John Portelli of Roma Cruise Terminal, Alexander Napp of PWL Port Services, and Leslie Peden of Celestyal Cruises analyzed the challenges they faced and shared their experiences. The sector, which was booming before the pandemic, has been gradually recovering since August 2020, but with greater intensity since the summer of 2021, and expects to have approximately 80% of its fleet operational by the end of the year. Most cruise lines have opted to accept only vaccinated passengers on board, who must still undergo a COVID-19 test before embarking—measures supported by 90% of passengers, according to a survey conducted by Cruise Critic earlier this month. Despite these strict measures, the sector still faces specific restrictions, such as in Italy, where any traveler arriving by land or air has freedom of movement, but those arriving on a cruise ship can only visit cities on "bubble" excursions. This restriction is currently a deterrent for many passengers, who continue to postpone their trips in anticipation of its lifting.
Day Two
The event resumed early Thursday with the presentation “The expansion of Mystic Invest”, by its CEO, Ferdinand Strohmeier.
Next, Matthew Jaenicke of Viking Maritime Group, Lucy Hodgson of V. Ships Leisure, Chris Coates of Ambassador Cruise Line, Raquel López of Intercruises, and Gabriele Bassi of Cruising Journal, moderated by Richard J. Voguel, addressed another challenge facing the sector: the destruction during the pandemic of thousands of jobs necessary for its activity, including bus drivers, tour guides, and even the closure of small tour operators and local businesses.
Furthermore, cruise lines not only faced enormous difficulties sending their crew members home during the strictest period of lockdown, but are now finding it hard to recruit staff due to onboard restrictions imposed by protocols. These protocols prevent crew members from disembarking at port calls, and many of the facilities previously available to them, such as crew gyms, are not operational. During this session on crews, Lucy Hodgson of V.Ships Leisure expressed her desire to see more women joining the maritime industry at all levels.
The following panel unveiled Saudi Arabia as a new cruise destination for MSC Cruises, presented by Ghassan Khan, CEO of Cruise Saudi, a newly established company based in Jeddah, whose aim is to establish and develop the cruise industry in Saudi Arabia and become a tourist destination on the international cruise map.
Finally, the fifth session focused on sales recovery and featured Jo Rzymowska from Celebrity Cruises, Bob Dixon from Cunard Line, Eamonn Ferrin from Norwegian Cruise Line, and Roberto Alberti from Costa Cruises, moderated by Aimilia Papachristou from MedCruise. Cruise lines are making an extra effort to support travel agencies, investing in marketing to stimulate demand and organizing familiarization trips (fam trips) to allow them to experience firsthand the safety protocols in place. As a result, cruise lines are already seeing strong demand for cruises in 2022 and 2023. Jo Rzymowska believes that happy crews lead to happy passengers and therefore focuses on developing her human resources department, while also encouraging them to use social media platforms like TikTok to attract new customers.
New Cruise Lines:
During ICS 2021, several new cruise lines were also presented, including Ambassador Cruise Line, formed from the merger of the former management team of Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV), which filed for bankruptcy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ocean Residences Development aims to build one of the most technically advanced residential ships in the industry, surpassing current standards in sustainability, technical innovation, and emissions. Tradewind Voyages owns the world's largest square-rigged sailing ship, the Golden Horizon. Explora Journeys, a luxury cruise brand belonging to the MSC Group, will operate the Explora I cruise ship, scheduled to launch in May 2023.
The event concluded on the 18th with words of thanks from Virginia López Valiente, general manager of Cruises News Media Group, and David Selby, director of ICS 2021.
Key takeaways from ICS 2021:
Sustainability has taken center stage, with shipping companies focused on achieving the goal of being carbon neutral.
This attitude will entail large investments for ports, such as the installation of clean electricity supply stations for ships or Liquefied Natural Gas.
The restart after the pandemic is posing a major challenge in human resources; many workers have changed sectors, or do not want to return to ships with the current restrictions, and there is a shortage of guides, bus drivers, small businesses...
There is a real boom in small new shipping companies, and during the pandemic new ports of call have emerged while others have taken the opportunity to position themselves better.
ICS Master 2021 Winner:
The first day of the International Cruise Summit 2021 featured the MASTER ICS competition, where attendees could demonstrate their knowledge by answering a series of strategic questions related to the cruise industry. The winner of this edition, with the most correct answers, was Andrew Williamson, Director of Passenger Operations at the Portsmouth International Port, who was crowned champion of the ICS Master 2021 Award.
