By
Rebecca Gibson |
Executives from Holland America Group, MSC Cruises and Carnival Maritime have been revealed as key speakers for the 2018 CruiseConnect Summit, which will return to Manila, Philippines on 5 November.
Billed as the cruise industry’s only event dedicated to crewing, CruiseConnectSummit will feature presentations by Eric Visser, Holland America’s director of Seagoing Workforce Management; Tino Hensel, vice president of Marine Human Resources (HR) at Carnival Maritime; Nico Corbijn, MSC Cruises’ vice president of Crew Management; and Magali Bertolucci, MSC Cruises’ director of Crew Development and Strategy. A full list of speakers can be found here.
Speakers will discuss some of the key challenges and opportunities facing the cruise industry when it comes to recruiting and retaining high-quality and skilled employees for both their onshore and shipboard operations.
“The people business in the cruise industry is very unique,” said Hensel. “We have specific challenges which are beyond the typical shipboard HR subjects. I cannot think of any other conference that addresses them in such detail.”
The CruiseConnect Summit programme will provide market analysis and enable attendees to gain insights into the manpower and investment trends that will help them to ensure their business remains successful.
“The growth of the cruise industry carries huge opportunities for the people management but also risks,” said Hensel. “What are those and which are the strategies to tackle them? I'm looking forward to a fruitful discussion, to share views and ideas.”
Delegates will also be able to share best practices with their peers and discuss ideas to improve how they train shipboard crew and onshore personnel.
“I am looking forward to listening to and learning from my cruise line colleagues attending CruiseConnect, as well as sharing with them some of the ways in which MSC Cruises is changing the face of talent management,” said Corbijn. “Our company, as a result of its unprecedented growth, is bound to experience future talent management challenges and sometimes another company’s best practices can inspire us to review and adjust our processes.”
CruiseConnect attendees can also remain in Manila for CrewConnect Global, one of the world’s largest events dedicated to marine HR, which will be held from 5-7 November. Delegates will be able to take part in an industry-wide conversation focused on innovation and the future of crewing. This year’s agenda will be largely focused on new solutions that will improve marine HR.
“On top of gaining some into depth knowledge on important topics in our business, I also found the CrewConnect events to be perfect for networking and meeting some of the big players in the shipping industry in person,” said Bertolucci. “I have also observed that the topics are being selected very much in gear with the global trends and in perfect timing for us to be more prepared for the challenges ahead.”
Key topics at CrewConnect will include digitisation and keeping seafarers safe and healthy.
“I am excited to learn more about the digitsation process within the shipping industry, since this is a hot topic of the moment,” said Bertolucci. “I am also very interested in the mental health of seafarer and what we can do to facilitate this kind of specific care. But most of all, I am excited by the ‘Women in Shipping’ panel because I’m a lady and I profoundly believe in diversity and integration.”