The president of Ports of Madeira (APRAM, SA), Paula Cabaço, sets as a major objective for the near future of the association that brings together the port authorities of Madeira, Azores, Canary Islands and Cape Verde, the creation of a new cruise tourism destination: The Macaronesia destination.
“This is the path we need to point out. A new cruise destination that speaks directly, with one voice, to the cruise lines,” said Paula Cabaço, maintaining that the four archipelagos of Cruceros Islas Atlânticas (CAI) have unique characteristics, their own authenticity, and singular identities that complement each other, allowing this itinerary to be presented to the cruise tourism industry as an attractive and differentiated product. “Just as we talk about the Caribbean today as a cruise destination, we are working together, and we have all the conditions, so that in the future the Macaronesian islands will also be a benchmark destination on this side of the Atlantic.”.
This objective was reinforced by Paula Cabaço during the CAI 2024 Conference, which took place over three days in Funchal. It was the first formal meeting of the five port authorities—Madeira, the Azores, the Canary Islands (Las Palmas and Tenerife), and Cape Verde—following the official establishment of the International Association of Ports of Macaronesia.
This important step granted legal status to the CAI brand, opening the door to a new range of possibilities, such as applying for EU funding to promote the destination and strengthening the association's ability to speak with one voice to businesses. "They know they have a representative here," emphasizes Paula Cabaço, adding that the Association's next steps include a general assembly, scheduled for November 11 in Madrid, where the activity plan for the coming year will be defined.
It will be there, at the first main meeting of the new Association, that the governing, management, and secretariat bodies will take office for the first two-year term. The presidency of the International Association of Ports of Macaronesia will rotate among all members, with Paula Cabaço assuming the leadership for the first term.
“It is an honor to be able to actively participate in this process. Thirty years ago, Madeira was at the heart of the cooperation agreement with the Canary Islands that gave rise to the CAI, and now we are once again committed to the development of this partnership, expanded to include Cape Verde and the Azores,” says the president of Portos da Madeira, who gives a “largely positive” assessment of the CAI 2024 Conference.
The event, which brought together nearly 80 cruise industry experts and was promoted by APRAM, began by paying tribute to the founders of the CAI, Juan Francisco Martin (Canary Islands), João Reis (Madeira), Eduardo Alvarez Hamilton (Canary Islands), Michael Blandy (Madeira) and Franklim Spencer (Cape Verde), before projecting the future through the eyes of Eduardo Cabrita (MSC Portugal), Fiona Noone (Marella Cruises, TUI), Kai Algar (Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines), Amadeu Albuquerque (Mystic Cruises), Rafael Fernández-Álava (Costa Crociere) and Mark Robinson (BC Group).
The speakers highlighted the potential of the Atlantic islands of Macaronesia as a cruise destination, pointing out the islands' safety, the uniqueness and complementarity of the archipelagos, the quality of the port infrastructure, the climate, the range of air connections and the proximity to major European capitals, as added value of this itinerary.
At the same time, APRAM took advantage of the presence of CLIA Europe Vice President Nikos Mertzadinis, who co-hosted the Conference, to formalize an environmental cooperation agreement. This was achieved through the signing of a protocol between the Funchal City Council, CLIA, and Madeira Ports, with a view to carrying out annual reforestation and environmental education activities in the Ecological Park, involving cruise lines that visit Madeira. The agreement was soon put into practice with a tree planting that took place the previous day in the Funchal Ecological Park, in which a group of attendees of the CAI Conference participated.
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