The Port of Huelva, together with Suncruise Andalucía, organized the first conference on 'Women in Nautical and Cruise Tourism' as part of the CITCA Suncruise Forum. The event was attended by numerous women, representatives from cruise terminals, shipping companies, and various businesses in the cruise and recreational boating industry, as well as from different Spanish ports, with the aim of highlighting the important role women play in the cruise and nautical tourism industry.
The opening of the day included speeches by the president of the Port of Huelva, Pilar Miranda, the Minister of Development, Infrastructure and Territorial Planning of the Andalusian Regional Government, Marifrán Carazo, and the president of Suncruise Andalucía, José García Fuentes.
During the event's inauguration, the Minister of Development, Infrastructure, and Territorial Planning praised "the increasingly prominent role of women in nautical tourism. We are not only an important part of the crews, but there are also more and more female cruise ship captains who are in charge of the ship and its crew," remarked the Minister, who also extended this presence to other areas such as logistics and service management.
For her part, the president of the Port of Huelva thanked Suncruise Andalucía, especially its president and manager, for choosing the Port of Huelva to organize this important forum, as it represents an opportunity to highlight the important role that women play in the cruise industry and nautical sports tourism, as well as to foster the exchange of experiences and continue growing with the implementation of new projects, "which will transform the Port of Huelva into a boutique port, a destination for small cruise ships and megayachts, belonging to the luxury segment.".
The opening ceremony was also attended by the president of Suncruise Andalucía, who stated that "this event serves not only to showcase the enormous opportunities our industry offers for professional development from the perspective of women who are international success stories, but also to help balance the scales and increase the presence of women in leadership positions in our sector.".
The day featured several panel discussions addressing topics such as "Women's Experiences in the Cruise Industry," "Women's Employment in the Cruise Industry," and "Women in Recreational Boating." During the forum, the documentary "Puerto," produced by Producciones Singulares and directed by Huelva-born filmmaker Remedios Malvárez, was presented. The event also included a reading of poems by the Poets of Huelva for Peace group.
The first panel on 'The female experience in the cruise industry' was moderated by Eva Miquel, managing partner of AWP Services and featured Andrea Tocino, Communications Director at Un mundo de cruceros/Cruceros Starclass; Agathe Belamy, Founder and CEO of Shore2Shore; Susana Gutiérrez, director of the Málaga Cruise Port cruise terminal; and Cherilyn J. Lee, senior editor of Cruceroadicto.com magazine.
The second panel, on 'Women's Employment in the Cruise Industry,' featured a presentation by María Ángeles Muriel, the Regional Delegate for Tourism of the Andalusian Regional Government in Huelva. It was moderated by Esther Molina, Secretary General and Manager of Suncruise Andalucía, and Sectoral Director of Tourism at CESUR and AMMDE. Panelists included Guadalupe Díaz, Head of the Projects and Works Department at the Port of Huelva; Sofía Basterra, PR Manager at MSC Cruises; Cheyenne Méndez, Chief Officer at Celebrity Cruises; and Virginia López, CEO of Cruises News Media Group and Editor-in-Chief of CruisesNews Magazine.
Finally, the third panel, 'Women in Sports Sailing', featured presentations by Maribel Vela, managing director of the Sant Feliu de Guixols Nautical Club; Lorena Carmona, sales representative of the Ceuta Port Authority; Alicia Pineda, head of the Port Public Domain Area of the Public Agency of Ports of Andalusia and Logistics Network of Andalusia; and Beatriz Orejudo, CEO of LANTIMAR Group, Ship Agent & Yachting & Logistic & Customs.
