By
Rebecca Gibson |
Southampton City Council hosted its first Leisure Excursions for Cruise & Conference this month to help local businesses find ways to develop and promote their cruise tourism offerings to cruise lines and their guests.
Director of CruiseBritain Kay Greenway presented to the 50 delegates at the event, highlighting ways Southampton could capitalise on its position as Europe’s busiest turnaround port and the fact that it will welcome at least five new homeporting ships in the next few years.
Other speakers included Samantha Richardson, director of National Coastal Tourism Academy; Andrew Bateman, director of Visit Hampshire, who attended on behalf of England’s Literary Greats Project; and Emalene Hickman from Culture Southampton who spoke about the Mayflower 400 commemorative events that will take place in 2020. Each speaker discussed current and upcoming projects, highlighting their potential for boosting UK inbound tourism opportunities.
The delegates were also able to network and explore how to work in collaboration with other business partners to build shore excursions and other experiences for cruise guests.
“This event was entirely tailored towards supporting cruise excursion companies to find products that match their requirements and enable them to build a marketable excursion itinerary,” said Laura Campbell, project manager at Leisure Excursions for Cruise and Conference. “We have been absolutely overwhelmed with the positive response that the event received and we are looking forward to organising more of these events in the coming months.”