ASSOCI ATION HIGHL IGHTS The new Alaska Initiatives from Cruise Europe are helping to encourage the availability of shore power and promote collaboration for greater sustainability across the region Sustainability must be at the forefront of everything we do in our industry. To address this issue, Cruise Europe has established a sustainability subcommittee that is led by our chairman Michael McCarthy and also includes one member from each of the four regions represented by the Cruise Europe network. The group has produced two fact sheets about sustainability in close collaboration with construction and engineering company Bermello Ajamil. The first document focuses on the financial impact of cruise tourism, documenting how our industry contributes to local spending, employment and value creation across the whole region of Northern and Atlantic Europe. In a few years, 65 per cent of the global fleet will be equipped to use shore power in ports, so our second fact sheet focuses on delivering shore power for cruise ships. A growing number of our members have installed onshore power supply, or are planning to do so soon, to meet demand, and Cruise Europe thinks it is realistic that our region will become the ‘New Alaska’ in terms of providing shore power in our ports. To date, ports in Germany, Norway and England are ready to welcome cruise ships that want to plug in to shore power, but many ports across the whole region are at an advanced stage in their planning and implementation of cold ironing. We also plan to follow up with a third fact sheet where we will examine the impact of energy prices. An important forum for our members to agree such initiatives is the Cruise Europe conference. The conference is a members-only event where we also have our formal annual general meeting and other internal meetings. Our guests from cruise lines and media are offered an extensive VIP-programme, including excursions that showcase the best of the destination. The first Cruise Europe in-person event since the pandemic was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in May 2022 and welcomed a record number of delegates and cruise line attendees. In 2023, we will invite our members and guests from the cruise industry to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. It will take place from Monday 27 February to Thursday 3 March 2023, with a fullday international cruise conference on 2 March followed by a gala dinner in lovely Lisbon. CFIP Jens Skrede is managing director at Cruise Europe By Jens Skrede, Cruise Europe The latest edition of the Cruise Europe conference was held in Edinburgh, Scotland Photo: Forth Ports Ltd/Devlin Photo Ltd 6 6
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