MedCruise held its 69th General Assembly yesterday in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, bringing together its members in an important session focused on the Association's current activity, governance and future development.
The meeting offered members a new opportunity to meet, review progress made in the various areas of the Association's activity, and adopt a number of important decisions to support its evolution.
During the session dedicated to internal affairs, the members of the MedCruise Board of Directors presented updates on their respective areas of responsibility, detailing the work carried out since the previous General Assembly and outlining priorities for the coming months. The presentations reflected the broad scope of MedCruise's activities and the Board's commitment to promoting initiatives that add value to the Association and its members.
One of the main outcomes of the General Assembly was the approval of 16 amendments to the MedCruise Statutes. Some provisions of the Statutes had been in need of updating for some time, and the General Assembly allowed members to review and discuss them collectively. The amendments aim to modernize the Statutes and ensure that the Association's governance framework better reflects its current needs, priorities, and working practices.
The changes affect several key areas, including modernizing communication methods, introducing more inclusive and gender-neutral language, strengthening member participation and information, and reinforcing sustainability and the role of local communities within the Association's objectives. Organizational adjustments were also introduced to promote more effective governance and operations.
Of particular note was the unanimous approval by all members present of the inclusion of sustainability as an explicit objective of the Association, recognizing its economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The new objective places special emphasis on supporting local communities, strengthening relationships between ports and cities, and promoting cruise industry development that contributes positively to the long-term well-being of destinations.
MedCruise also continued to expand its international network with the addition of 11 new members: one ordinary member and ten associate members. Marmaris Cruise Port (Turkey) joined the Association as an ordinary member.
The ten new associate members are Compagnie Commerciale Charbonnière et Maritime (CCCM) (Morocco); AKS Advisory (Italy); Worms – Medacruise (France); SeaCras (Croatia); Suardiaz (Spain); Lantimar Group (Spain); Petrol Ofisi (Turkey); Ravenna Civitas Cruise Port (Italy); Shorelink Iberia (Spain); and Istanbul Shipping (Turkey).
Its addition further expands MedCruise's network of ports and cruise industry representatives, bringing new knowledge and perspectives to the Association and strengthening opportunities for cooperation among its members.
Commenting on the results of the General Assembly, Theodora Riga, President of MedCruise, stated: “This 69th General Assembly marks another important step in the development of our Association. I would like to thank everyone for their work, which has enabled us to update our statutes and provide MedCruise with a framework that will allow us to be even more effective in promoting and supporting the cruise industry.”.
"At the same time, economic, social, and environmental sustainability is now explicitly reflected in our statutes as one of the fundamental principles guiding the Association and its activities. I would also like to thank our colleagues and friends at the Port of Las Palmas for their hospitality and warm welcome. We now look forward to meeting again in Istanbul for the 70th MedCruise General Assembly.".
The 69th General Assembly concluded with MedCruise reaffirming its commitment to strengthening cooperation among its members, continuously improving the Association's governance and services, and representing the interests of cruise ports in the Mediterranean and adjacent seas, as well as industry representatives.
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