The
Passenger Shipping Association (PSA) and the
Association of Cruise Experts (ACE) are among the nine cruise
associations and will be known as CLIA UK, retaining their existing
office in London. The other associations areCruise
Lines International Association in
America, European
Cruise Council, Asia Cruise Association,
France’s AFCC, Brazil’s ABREMAR, Northwest and
Canada Cruise Association, Alaska
Cruise Association and International Cruise
Council Australasia.
The
new association was created to provide increased benefits and a
globally unified voice for cruise lines, travel
agents and business partners – all of whom
contribute to an industry that creates nearly $100 billion in
economic impact and more than 753,000 jobs worldwide. For cruise
lines, the new association offers a one-stop global resource on
technical and regulatory issues and unified global communication and
event coordination, all of which better utilisecruise lines’
investment in association membership. For travel agents, the new
association offers more robust partnership programmes and networking
on a broader scale. For the PSA’s associate members, it provides
greater opportunities for customer and business
partner development.
CLIA
will be governed by a Global Executive Committee, chaired by Howard
Frank, Vice Chairman, Chief Operating Officer and Member of the
Executive Committee of Carnival Corporation & plc. Christine
Duffy, President and CEO ofCruise Lines International
Association, will serve as the President and CEO of the new
association, leading a team with responsibilities for international
technical and regulatory issues, research, communications, industry
relations and public affairs.
“We
are now truly one industry with one voice” said Howard Frank.
“Given the tremendous growth and continuing globalization of the
cruise industry, this evolution addresses the need to speak and act
globally with a unified voice while recognizing the importance of
local relationships. The new association will play a vital role in
proactively shaping the policy and regulatory environments on a
global level and promoting cruising with various constituencies
through more effective coordination, communication and stakeholder
engagement.”
PSA
Director Bill Gibbons said “We have seen tremendous growth and
success in the cruise industry since the PSA was formed in 1958 with
the objective of promoting passenger travel by sea. Cruising now
touches every continent and having one unified global organisation
will be the natural next step in our development to ensure the
industry is represented in a cohesive manner, as it continues to grow
both in the UK and worldwide. We shall further develop our award
winning travel
agent training programme under CLIA UK and
continue with our cruise consumer promotional activities.”
He
continued: “Our ferry members are in discussion with the Chamber of
Shipping with whom we have worked very closely over the last few
years. The Chamber already has many ferry companies as members and
offers depth and a strong track record on policy, technical and
regulatory issues. Ferry companies are also keen to
continue the successful proactive work which has been undertaken by
the PSA to raise the profile of ferry travel through the Discover
Ferries campaign.”
PSA
Chairman, and Passenger Services Director for P&O Ferries, Simon
Johnson, added: “This is clearly the right move for our cruise
line members as the industry becomes truly
global and I’m delighted that our ferry members look set to have a
new home within the Chamber of Shipping where their interests will be
safeguarded.”
Christine
Duffy, who will serve as President and CEO of the new association
said: “There are immediate and longer term benefits from the new
association that are extensive and wide ranging. It enables us to
better leverage our members’ and partners’ investment in
association membership while strengthening the industry’s
leadership globally on issues such as safety, security, the
environment, sustainability and health. It also allows us to
consolidateindustry
research and to leverage promotional events
and marketing communication to facilitate greater consumer interest
in cruising.”
The
CLIA global organisation will represent the cruise industry at the
International Maritime Organisation based in London, the
International Labour Organisation in Geneva and with other
international maritime and shipping organisations around the world.
They will focus on global strategy, international industry issues and
strategic communications. Local and regional matters will continue to
be managed by the national and regional associations in North
America, Europe, and Australasia. The new association’s employees
will be located across the globe. Regional and country offices along
with new staff appointments will be the subject of a future
announcement.
