Dorset's Portland Port hosts national cruise industry conference

Cruise Britain's annual summer gathering, a major national cruise industry conference, was hosted this year at Dorset's Portland Port.

Prior to this year, the event had never been hosted at the Dorset port.

Delegates came from across the country for the two-day event hosted in partnership with Princess Cruises, including representatives from cruise lines, ports, tour operators and service providers.

Proceedings began at the welcome reception at the EBIKE café at Custom House Quay, followed by a conference including presentations, workshops, networking, and panels based on Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess during her call at the port.

Portland Port’s commercial general manager and chair of Cruise Britain Ian McQuade said: “The Cruise Britain summer event at Portland Port was a great success.

“It was a privilege to host this prestigious cruise gathering and welcome delegates from across the country to celebrate our world-class industry and the role it plays in supporting the economy and promoting Britain’s place in the world.

“Portland Port alone contributes about £10m to its local economy from its cruise activity, a figure magnified many times over by ports and destinations across the country.

“The event was also an opportunity to showcase Portland Port’s newly developed deep-water berth and some of the superb tourism destinations we have on our doorstep.”

“Our thanks go to all involved, in particular the staff and crew of the beautiful Regal Princess, who helped make the event such a success.”

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The conference programme on the Regal Princess included welcomes from Captain Tim Stringer of the Regal Princess, Mr McQuade, and Portland Port chief executive Bill Reeves.

It was followed by a panel discussion hosted by Mary Bond, group director of Seatrade Cruise. Other featured speakers on the panel were Sander Groothuis, vice-president port and shore operations at Carnival UK, and Hayley Moore, director of marketing at Princess Cruises.

There followed a social media workshop with cruise operations manager Louis Colpitts of SCH Group and a presentation by Simon O’Sullivan from TUI Musement about intercruises, whilst Amanda Lumley, chief executive of Destination Plymouth, spoke about the new tourism landscape.

There were also presentations from Karen O’Gorman of Abbotsbury Swannery and Owen Davies of Athelhampton about how their engagements with Portland Port and the broader cruise industry. 

The event also included a reception, lunch and tours of the Regal Princess.

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