Speaker line-up announced for annual cruise conference

A STRONG speaker line-up has been confirmed for the 23rd annual Australian Cruise Association Conference (ACA) and AGM, which will be held in Geelong later this year.

In recognition of the important role regional destinations play in the continued growth of Australia’s cruise industry, this will be the third year (2018 in Broome and 2017 in Mooloolaba) that ACA has held their event outside a major metropolitan centre.

Taking this one step further in 2019, several keynote speakers have been selected to reflect the increasing interest by cruise passengers in travelling on smaller vessels which are best suited to these destinations.

Product Manager for Windstar Cruises in Seattle, Melissa Witsoe, will discuss the importance of finding a destination’s hidden treasures and weaving them into itineraries to provide fascinating immersive experiences for their passengers.

Windstar is one of the new cruise lines which will soon sail in Australia.

Managing Director of Silversea Cruises in Australia and New Zealand Adam Armstrong will attend as a first-time speaker to the Conference.

This region is the cruise line’s third largest market with Silversea’s new flagship, Silver Muse debuting here earlier this year.

The company has plans to launch five new luxury
vessels by 2023.

Other confirmed keynote speakers are Captain Nikolaos Antalis, Association Vice President Marine and Safety for Royal Caribbean International (APAC), who is responsible for working with ports to develop appropriate infrastructure and evaluating them to determine the feasibility for potential calls.

And Associate Professor Anne Hardy from the University of Tasmania who will speak on their groundbreaking Tourism Tracer research and visitor patterns.

With a focus on the value proposition, other wideranging conference sessions will look at cruise’s impact on the hotel sector, coach operators and attractions and the importance of destination development.

The conference will start on Wednesday September 4 with a range of networking tours planned to showcase the destination.

Around 120 people are expected to attend the Conference which will run through until September 6. The conference and AGM will be held at the Novotel Geelong.

Earlybird registrations are now open until July 31 at australiancruiseassociation.com/conferences.