The 51st MedCruise General Assembly that was held in Toulon in France elected Mr. Airam Díaz Pastor, Commercial Director of Ports of Tenerife as the new President of the Association representing ports and stakeholders related to the cruise business in the Mediterranean and its adjoining seas.
Airam Díaz Pastor is the Commercial Director of the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife since 2011. He has been Key Account Manager for Shipping Company, International Transport & Logistics of Grimaldi Group in Naples in Italy, as well as for I.C.P.L Srl – Rome Interport Logistic Platform Civitavecchia in Rome where he managed, among others, Royal Caribbean and Princess Cruises warehouses. In Dakar in Senegal, he was Commercial Director of the international sales, distribution and logistics tire company Firestone-Toppneus and Market Analyst at the Commercial Department and Economic Development of the Spanish Embassy.
He succeeds in the Presidency Kristijan Pavic, President of Dubrovnik Port Authority who will continue serving the Association as Honorary President – thanked by the new President for his contribution to the MedCruise success throughout the past years.
“I am very confident MedCruise will continue being the leading Association of cruise ports. Representing over 20% of the global cruise traffic with more than 100 members in the Black Sea, Red Sea, Adriatic, West and East Med and Near Atlantic, we can all together face the new challenges that the cruise sector is facing, including new buildings, the development of port facilities, the expansion of emerging source markets, as well as new regulations, and environmental and energy related issues. To accomplish this aim, MedCruise will strength its relationship with other European and international associations working in partnership to create best practices and help our members to enjoy sustainable cruise business growth. MedCruise is committed to enlarge and, via the close cooperation with other stakeholders, contribute to the prosperity of all those involved in cruising” said Airam Díaz Pastor following the announcement of the results.
Airam Díaz Pastor continued stating “I would like to thank MedCruise members who trust me as President of the Association and I am looking forward to work with them, the BoD and the Secretariat to achieve all the objectives MedCruise has detailed during the most succesful 51st General Assembly”.
Along with its President, MedCruise elected its Board of Directors (BoD) members to serve for the period 2017-2020. The members of the new Board of Directors are: Aris Batsoulis (Corfu) elected as Senior Vice President, Laura Cimaglia (Brindisi), elected as Vice President, Figen Ayan (Istanbul), Cherifa Ben Salem (Tunisian Ports), Maria Cano Olmos (Palamós), Cristina De Gregori (Genoa/ Savona), Nicky Guerrero (Gibraltar), Valeria Mangiarotti (Sardinian Ports), Teodor Patrichi (Constantza), Theodora Riga (Piraeus), Carla Salvado (Kusadasi/ Bodrum/ Antalya) and Thrasos Stavridoupoulos (Volos).
During its meeting that took place the day after the announcement of the election results, the new Board of Directors decided that the MedCruise Secretariat will continue to perform its tasks from the Greek office of the Association at the Port of Piraeus and reappointed Thanos Pallis as the Secretary General of the Association.
Photo from L-R: Nicky Guerrero, Teodor Patrichi, Maria Cano Olmos, Cherifa Ben Salem, Airam Diaz Pastor, Valeria Mangiarotti, Cristina De Gregori, Theodora Riga, Aris Batsoulis, Thrasos Stavridopoulos, Figen Ayan, Laura Cimaglia
