On September 16-18, 2010, the port of Odessa, in collaboration with the Association of Mediterranean Cruise Ports (MedCruise) and the Black and Azov Seas Ports Association (BASPA), held the Second International Conference “Black Sea Cruise 2010”, gathering over one third of the world’s cruise fleet and 130 representatives from 16 countries.
Among the major cruise ships operators and industry leaders present at the event were John Tercek, VP, Commercial Development, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd; Giorgio Matta, Director, Planning and Operations, V Ships; Marc Berberian, Port Operations Director, Compagnie Des Iles Du Ponant; William Gibbons, Marketing Director, European Cruise Council; as well as Peter Wild, Chairman, G.P. Wild International; representatives from ports, ministries of transport and tourism; and various cruise industry players from Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Syria, Georgia, Turkey, Italy, USA, Great Britain, Spain, France and others.
The point of the conference was to have the cruise lines and the regional ports work together to solve problems and continue to develop the industry in the region. Cruise industry leaders provided step-by-step advice to port and tourism officials on how to improve promotion and cruise services in the Black Sea. As a result of the conference, two cooperative agreements were signed: one between the port of Yalta, Ukraine, and Royal Caribbean International and the other between the port of Odesa, Ukraine, and the port of Lattakia, Syria.
