By
Laura Hyde |
The 30th edition of the Cruise Atlantic Islands (CAI) Conference will be held from 26 to 28 September in Funchal, Madeira.
The object of the 2024 conference is to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the cruise market in the Macaronesian islands in the North Atlantic. CAI will bring together the ports of Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores and Cape Verde, who work together to promote the region to cruise lines, operators and passengers.
CAI held its first collective brand meeting on 19 September 1984 in Funchal, bringing together port officials from Madeira and the Canary Islands. The 2024 conference, promoted by APRAM, will mark this date with a conversation with the participants of the founding meeting: Juan Francisco Martin, former commercial director of the Ports of the Canary Islands; João Reis, former president of APRAM; Michael Blandy, former CEO of the Blandy Group; Eduardo Alvarez Hamilton, former CEO of Hamilton & CO in the Canary Islands; Franklim Spencer, former president of the Ports of Cape Verde; and Pedro Roque, former president of the Port Authority from Tenerife.
“It will be an opportunity to pay homage to all these people, of great value and vision, to whom the cruise market in the Macaronesia region owes a lot,” said Paula Cabaço, CEO of Ports of Madeira. “They realised that only by working together could we establish ourselves in a global and competitive industry, such as cruises.”
Port operators, cruise companies, industry agents, government officials and national and international journalists are all expected to attend the three-day conference, which will be coordinated by Nikos Mertzadinis, vice president of Cruise Lines International Association in Europe.
“We are very excited to have Nikos Mertzadinis in Madeira,” said Cabaço. “He is a very respected voice in the industry and will bring to this conference a comprehensive and in-depth view of a sector that he knows like few others.”
Also expected to feature at the conference are Eduardo Cabrita, general director of MSC Portugal; Fiona Noone, director of planning and port operations at Marella Cruises/TUI; Kai Algar, director planning and port operations at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines; Sylviane de Tracy, director of development and research at Ponant; Hugo Basto, director of Mystic Cruises; and Rafael Fernández-Álvava, director of communication and external relations at Costa Cruises.
Find out more about the event on the dedicated CAI Conference 2024 website.