This year’s International Cruise Summit is due to take place from 27-28 November in Madrid. The only annual forum centred on worldwide knowledge of the cruise industry to be held in Europe, the ICS is rapidly becoming a must for all those wishing to be seen as active players in Cruise.
Indeed, since its inception in 2011 the event has developed into one of the cruise industry’s most recognised for covering vitally important topics whilst at the same time evaluating and generating solutions to the challenges it faces.
Last year saw over 400 delegates attending the event, including representatives from cruise companies, ports, shipping agents, destinations, tourism services, tour operators, travel agents and more. The sessions held tackled a variety of different questions and topics, with some looking at passenger experience and others more focused on the performance of the cruise industry as a whole.
This year will see an expanded list of top speakers including our very own Ian Richardson, CEO and co-founder of TheICEway, who will also be acting as a moderator. Speaking ahead of the event, Richardson was very much looking forward to attending:
“Here at TheICEway we very much see the cruise industry as being key to our current and future endeavours, and so the chance to visit ICS in a speaking and moderating capacity was one I was definitely keen to take. I’m confident that our session, not to mention all the others, will unfold in an interesting and informative manner and that we will cover a lot of important points for cruise as we move into a new decade full of opportunity.”
TheICEway is an ecosystem of companies that provides a complete, end-to-end digital solution for clients looking to improve their existing information technology structure, practices and processes, with cyber security and testing very much on the agenda in the quest for success.
TheICEway has built a very strong reputation within the cruise industry since ICE Support Ltd was launched in 2007 by Richardson and Conor Byrne, himself an IT veteran of almost 30 years. As a part of and in addition to ICE Support Ltd, the pair oversaw the growth and development of ICE Technology Services, CRIBB Cyber Security and eTestware amongst other brands, all of which combine to form what is now known as TheICEway. Other areas of expertise include the wider travel industry and also healthcare and retail, although cruise is very much the focal point right now.
Indeed, as the organisers behind the International Cruise Summit would no doubt concur, the cruise business on the whole is going from strength to strength and the conference affords the opportunity to analyse the industry in a different way, in an environment that is both professional but also comfortable. The networking possibilities are also a mouth-watering prospect for anyone looking to gain insight and trade tips because despite the fact that cruise is in a relatively strong position right now, there remain a great many challenges.
Some of these challenges have been in existence for many years, whilst others are fairly new as we see technology adopted to a far higher degree on board the increasingly-digitalised cruise ships. The International Cruise Summit is the place to be for all those wishing to go through these points and more in great detail, so if you haven’t already secured a place perhaps now is the time to do so. If you are still unsure, the ICS have put together a list of 10 reasons to attend:
1. Gain >> New perspectives
2. Evolve >> Keep up-to-speed on all current trends
3. Learn >> Listen to the best and brightest in the industry (including TheICEway’s own Ian Richardson)
4. Share >> Keep up-to-speed on what your peers are doing
5. Adapt >> All agendas are prepared with your needs in mind, months ahead of the event
6. Expand >> Open yourself to new ideas
7. Grow >> Gain insight on future trends and how you can take advantage now
8. Absorb >> Enjoy Madrid, one of the world’s finest congress locations
9. Trek >> Enjoy professional yet comfortable business networking opportunities
10. Unwind >> Agendas are scheduled in such a way as to offer a good amount of ‘downtime’
This years’ main sponsors are Valenciaport, Intercruises, Puertos Del Estado, Comunidad de Madrid, Cruises Atlantic Islands, Ecuador Travel and Turespana.
Other sponsors for the event are:
Port de Barcelona, Medcruise, Pullmantur Cruceros, Global Ports Holding, MSC Cruceros, Costa, Tarragona Cruise Port, Ports de Balears, Le Havre Tourisme, Mundomar Cruceros, Autoridad Portuaria de Ceuta, Puerto de Cartagena, Grupo Verlio, Cruise Europe, Port of Vigo, Perez y Cia Grupo, Royal Caribbean International, Puerto de Melilla, Port of A Coruna, ASD Law, Berge, Bilbao Port, Alicante Port, Tillberg Design International, Makinen, Cruise & Ferry, Cruise Times, Info Cruceros, Cyber Cruises, Actualidad, Al Sol de la Costa, Ship2Shore, Port News, CruiseBusiness.com, Waves and Wind, Crucero Magazine, Portal Cruceros, Noticias de Cruceros, Cyaox Actbo Shipping, GCC Ports and Diplomacia.
If you are going to this year’s Summit then please do feel free to say hello…
Top Tip
The Summit lasts for two days and during that time there will be a host of fantastic Q&A sessions and presentations to take in. It would be remiss of us not to encourage you to attend session 4 on November 28th at 10am, which will be moderated by TheICEway’s CEO and Founder, Ian Richardson. The session will be based upon data and technology and will see speakers from Fred Olsen Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises and more…
Glossary
TheICEway – An ecosystem of companies that provides an end-to-end digital solution.
ICE Technology Services – Part of TheICEway, offering IT Consultancy and Managed Services with over 20 years of experience in the cruise and travel industry.
CRIBB Cyber Security – The Cyber Security arm of TheICEway, CRIBB is UK Government accredited and offers services including Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, along with an internationally-approved Data Protection Officer solution and a brand new product developed especially for the cruise industry: CRIBB Maritime Cyber Assurance (CMCA).
eTestware – TheICEway’s software testing platform with functional, performance, security, block chain, data warehousing and automation testing services.
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