Cruise Lines International Association held its largest-ever annual conference this weekend, with over 750 attendees present.
This year's conference was held under the theme 'Cruise Heroes', recognising agents' work across the sector.
As part of the programme, Andy Harmer, CLIA's managing director for UK & Ireland, announced the association's biggest-ever trade engagement campaign for 2023/24.
Regional ship visits will take place in August this year, with Seabourn Quest (Dover) on August 1st, Norwegian Dawn (Newcastle) on August 4th, Holland America Line's Zuiderdam (Belfast) on August 11th, Crystal Serenity (Southampton) on August 22nd, and Oceania Cruises' Vista (Liverpool) on August 25th.
Agents will be invited to secure their place via the CLIA website in the coming weeks.
The annual CLIA Cruise Week will take place from September 18th to 24th, with a host of agent-friendly initiatives and updates expected.
Andy Harmer, CLIA managing director for UK & Ireland, said: “This was our largest ever CLIA Conference, and I'm thrilled to say it proved a huge success, with great initial feedback from agents and the wider industry. The trade are all 'cruise heroes', and with so many new delegates joining us, it’s clear more agents than ever before can see the opportunities and advantages of cruise.
"We're so excited to announce our superhero-charged programme of events, with the widest ever choice of ship visit openings, domestic and overseas events, and virtual training opportunities. This approach recognises people like to learn, engage and network in different ways. It also recognises agents have a range of requirements, from focussing on certain sectors such as expedition and river cruise.
"We are encouraging all agents to take advantage of this wealth of opportunities, as cruise continues to go from strength-to-strength."
