The 64th MedCruise Assembly in Tarragona

Inclusion was the main theme of the 64th MedCruise, and the plenary sessions, the human tower tradition, and the creation of a new Atlantic region reflected this fundamental philosophy of MedCruise and the cruise industry as a whole.

Tarragona was the perfect destination for a successful 64th General Assembly, which kicked off on the same day as the inauguration of the Tarragona Cruise Terminal and the 28th anniversary of MedCruise, founded in 1996.

The MedCruise General Assembly was characterized by the presence of almost 200 delegates, including a record number of cruise representatives, port members and associates, media representatives and travel experts, thanks to the organization of Tarragona Cruise Port – Costa Daurada and MedCruise.

The delegates had the opportunity to participate in more than 648 B2B meetings and several networking events, discovering the city of Tarragona and experiencing the Costa Daurada region.

During their Internal Affairs meeting, the port members of MedCruise voted for a landmark decision, creating a new “Atlantic Region” represented by three countries and the ports of Lisbon, Cádiz, Madeira, Tenerife, the Azores, Leixões, Cape Verde, Portimão, Huelva, and the Canary Islands. Following the next elections, to be held in Málaga in September, Atlantic Ports will have a representative on the Board of Directors.

The Assembly also voted to rename and add the current Eastern Mediterranean area to the Red Sea and, from now on, to constitutionally refer to this region as “Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea”, joining the other regions - Western Mediterranean, Black Sea and Adriatic - that make up the association.

They opened with a session entitled “The Power of Women on the Water,” moderated by Anne-Marie Spinosi and featuring Captain Kate McCue, Marie-Caroline Laurent, and Figen Ayan. Gender equality has not been explored from a feminist perspective, but the panelists and moderators demonstrated that our cruise industry welcomes both men and women, who are dedicated to providing simply the best, regardless of their gender.

As you all know, a holistic approach to sustainability has always been a focus of this mandate, and during one of the panels, we explored how to create harmonious and holistic services in our ports and destinations with more sustainable land-based experiences by leveraging the expertise of our partner members, improving passenger mobility, and diverting traffic to lesser-known attractions to alleviate overcrowding in major tourist spots and promote a balanced and sustainable approach to tourism.

This panel was moderated by Mark Robinson with speakers Choni Fernández Veciana, Christine Manjencic, Turky Kari and Jeff Shieh.

We have also deciphered and created strategies to integrate smaller and medium-sized ports into cruise itineraries and shared the experience of travel experts, who have been to many ports, with a panel moderated by Laura Cimaglia and involving Giovanna Dipasquale, Francesco Rossiello, Stewart Chiron and Scott Eddy.

Thanks to boutique and luxury cruise companies, which are looking for new experiences on land, we have explored a new topic with an open heart by evaluating the possibility of carrying out expeditions in Antarctica or the Arctic also in our Mediterranean region.

This was explored in a session moderated by Nicky Guerrero and attended by Spiros Almpertis, Hugues Lamy and Sacha Rougier.

An important topic for the management of our ports was the new border regulations that were very well prepared during another important event, the “International Cruise Summit” in Madrid.

Frontex, the key company responsible for planning, has been with MedCruise to show members and cruise lines how EU ports can be well prepared, thanks to a presentation by Georgios Tsakalis, Frontex Senior Assistant, Traveler and Carrier Support Operator.

Finally, the sessions concluded with an exploration of how ports and destinations can be inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community, featuring our friends at Queer Destinations, whom we reconnected with at ICS. This presentation was given by Edgar Weggelaar, Partner and Managing Director of Queer Destinations.

Figen Ayan, President of MedCruise: “This General Assembly has been even more special for many reasons. Tarragona has inaugurated its brand-new terminal building, and everyone present at our General Assembly celebrated this exciting event together. June 11th was the 28th anniversary of MedCruise, founded by visionary ports.”