Tourism Officials Attend FCCA Cruise Conference

Belize was represented at the 15^th Annual Florida Cruise Conference and Trade Show held between October 27^th - 31^st, 2008 in Trinidad, by Mr. Michael Singh, Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Tourism & Civil Aviation and Mr. Lloyd Enriquez, Registrar of Hotels.

The annual FCCA Conference & Trade Show is the premier cruise industry event of the year. In attendance were representatives from government ministries, port authorities, tourism agencies, cruise suppliers and tour operators throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, South America and United States.

The conference provided an avenue for cruise industry partners to meet with key marketing, purchasing and operations executives from FCCA's member lines to gain insights into what the cruise lines are looking for in terms of products, services and ports of call, while strengthening a cruise industry network base.

BTB representatives participated with the aim of improving Belize's tourism cruise sector and met with cruise executives from Carnival, Princess and Norwegian Cruise Lines to discuss matters pertaining to itinerary planning and cruise passenger needs.

Mr. Enriquez also attended a "Care Awareness Training Workshop" designed to provide attendees with additional training and skills for more effective and empathetic support for cruise ship passengers and crew in the event of trauma due to illness, injury or death as a result of shore excursion accidents. Other discussions focused on coping mechanisms for immediate port dis-embarkation of crew and passengers.

FCCA is a trade organization composed of 14 member cruise lines operating more than 90 vessels in waters off Florida, the Caribbean and Mexico. Created in 1972, the FCCA's mandate is to provide a forum for discussion on legislation, tourism development, port safety, security, and other cruise industry issues. FCCA works with governments, ports, and various private-sector representatives to maximize cruise passenger, cruise-lines and cruise-line employee spending; enhance the destination experience; and increase the volume of cruise passengers returning as long-stay/overnight visitors.