The 48th General Assembly Medcruise, which will take place in Odessa on 22–25 June 2016 will gather more than 100 representatives from leading cruise ports worldwide, USPA cites Elvira Leshchinskaya, Head of Development and External Relations Department of the port of Odessa Authority.
- As the members of Medcruise Board of Directors, for first in the history of our country we succeed in attracting such a scaled event. This major cruise event will mark the celebrations of the 20 years of the Association — says Elvira Leshchinskaya. The format of the event is unique, since it is a closed forum for third-party companies. All benefits and marketing tools for the promotion of the ports among cruise operators are available only for members of the Association.
In addition to ports’ representatives, the participation in the event have confirmed the delegates from all the cruise lines, which previously canceled their cruise ship calls at Ukrainian ports. Among them are: SilverSea, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Holland America Group, MSC Crociere, Azamara Cruises, Costa Crociere, Pullmantur Cruises, as well as five international cruise media providing advertising campaign for Ukrainian ports and cities abroad.
«The right to host Medcruise General Assembly gives its holder a guaranteed promotional bonus. The number of those wishing to hold a forum is always great and the candidates willing to replace Odessa as the host city was enough. For today, the preparation for the event involves massive advertising of our port and the city in worldwide media. Odessa has to be the talk of the town: all the cruise operators should be aware of our city and include it in their cruise routes. This is what we need»- said Elvira Leshchinskaya.
Association of Mediterranean Cruise Ports Medcruise was founded in 1996. Today, the association has grown to 72 members representing more than 100 ports around the Mediterranean region, including the Black Sea, the Red Sea and the Near Atlantic, plus 32 associate members, representing other associations, tourist boards and ship/port agents. The port of Odessa resumed its membership in the Association in 2008 and since2011 is part of the Medcruise Board of Directors.