By
Rebecca Gibson |
Francesco Galietti has been appointed as national director of the Cruise Line International Association’s (CLIA) new organisation in Italy.
Headquartered in Rome, CLIA Italy is the 14th cruise industry association to be established as part of CLIA’s new global structure.
Since 2013, CLIA has been expanding its resources in Europe and has already established CLIA UK & Ireland, CLIA Germany, CLIA France, CLIA Spain, CLIA Netherlands and CLIA Belgium & Luxembourg.
“With the establishment of CLIA Italy, we affirm our support and commitment to a country that has been, is, and will continue to be, of vital importance to our future,” said Christine Duffy, president and CEO of CLIA, announcing the development at the State of the Industry session at Cruise Shipping Miami. “Through CLIA Italy, the industry can better support its members in the third largest cruise market in Europe and ensure they benefit from CLIA’s extensive global reach and wide-ranging programmes that support the responsible growth for cruising.”
Last year 869,000 Italians booked a cruise holiday and more than two million passengers embarked on a cruise from Italy. The country is also a leading destination market and an important country for shipbuilding.
CLIA Europe’s chairman Pierfrancesco Vago, who also participated in the State of the Global Cruise Industry panel, said: “As a top destination, an important source market, and a leader in ship construction, Italy is one of the most important markets for the cruise industry in the world, as well as the largest European country in terms of total direct spending: in 2012 the industry spent €4.46 billion in this country.”