Stakeholders in Eastern and Southern Africa discuss cruise tourism industry |05 July 2017

‘Staying united is staying strong’

Cruise tourism is an industry that is growing at a steady pace and shows no sign of slowing down, with cruise ships heavily impacting the economy of countries and ports they pass through.

In 2015 cruise ships around the world catered to more than 20 million passengers and noted an output of 117 billion USD.

Consequently the Port Management Association for Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA) in collaboration with Cruise Indian Ocean Association (CIOA) and the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) has organised a workshop on the subject.

The two-day cruise tourism workshop is being held at the Savoy Seychelles Resort and Spa at Beau Vallon from July 4 to 5 under the theme ‘The Role of Integrated Tourism as a Method to Revive Cruise Tourism’.

It forms part of a wider five-day conference which includes meetings concerning the validation of the PMAESA Port Harbour Masters’ network and a technical workshop on Container Concessions Guidelines.

The principal secretary for tourism Anne Lafortune officially opened the cruise tourism workshop yesterday.

Among delegates were various representatives of port authorities, tourism boards, cruise operators and stakeholders from Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, Uganda, Belgium, Mauritius and Reunion.

The main objective of the workshop is to analyse the topic at hand, conceptualise marketing strategies and ensure better collaboration between all stakeholders in order to establish the Eastern and Southern African region as a key destination for cruise vessels.

During the opening ceremony where former Seychelles tourism minister Alain St Ange acted as the moderator, opening remarks were made by Colonel Andre Ciseau, the chief executive of SPA; Catherine Wairi, the CIOA chairperson and managing director of Kenya Ports Authority; Anil Gayan, the Minister for Tourism of Mauritius and Katureede Tayebwa, the consul general of Uganda to Mombasa.

In her opening remarks Mrs Wairi as head of the CIOA -- an organisation formed in 2000 to create a united front for all member states, similar to those in the Mediterranean and Europe -- noted that the potential which exists in the region is immense.

She said that in order to tap into these vast riches and collectively promote Eastern and Southern Africa for the cruise tourism industry they must “paint a clearer picture of the past and present that will enable us to chart the way forward”.

From the opening remarks it was clear that the workshop will be focusing on how to better promote the beauty of African coastlines and islands alongside the vast cultural entity which is mainland Africa as a complete package to cruise vessels and their agents.

On her part Mrs Lafortune stated that Seychelles is proud to host and organise this event for the second consecutive year and remarked that the event gives a further boost to discussions surrounding the Blue economy concept.

Allan Foggit, a representative of Starlight Cruises, a company based in South Africa, acknowledged the challenges which cruise ships as well as the countries that benefit from the businesses of these cruise vessels face.

For instance he explained that because these ships are sometimes catering to 3000 passengers cruise companies appoint agents that pre-book and streamline all excursions in order to avoid disarray.

It is hoped that all stakeholders will engage in constructive discussions and come up with tangible action plans during this workshop to benefit each and every one of them.

Delegates will also later take part in an excursion around Seychelles to experience first-hand what Seychelles can bring to the region’s cruise tourism.