Seatrade Cruise Connection

September 2005

Seatrade Miami: It’s not just Cruise Shipping anymore

With the successful debut of the Super Yacht Symposium in 2005, the scope of the convention broadens for exhibitors and attendees.

There are synergies between the cruise ship and super yacht industries. That was the lesson of the 2005 Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention, which saw the introduction of the Super Yacht Symposium as part of the Seatrade conference program.

Several hundred attendees crowded into the symposium's opening State of the Super Yacht Industry panel to hear the movers and shakers of the mega-yacht business hold forth. By the end of the symposium, attendees were convinced the venue should cater to cruise and large yacht industries.

Richard Bridge, a superyacht captain, summed it up succinctly: "There are a lot of good practices within the cruise industry that will help yachts move forward in this period of great expansion. This is the first time I can remember seeing a correlation between the two industries at a major event."

And the annual Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention - set for March 13-16, 2006, in Miami Beach - truly is a major event. The 2005 edition attracted nearly 10,000 exhibitors, delegates and visitors from 115 countries to the three-day exhibition featuring nearly 1,000 companies and the four-day conference. Nearly 1,100 cruise line representatives from 73 companies also attended.

"In the Super Yacht Symposium, attendees will find productive discussions on such issues as regulations and insurance, crewing, safety and shipbuilding," said Michael Kazakoff, vice president of CMP Princeton Inc., organizers of the convention. "And in the exhibition they'll find pertinent products and services, from shipbuilding and design to destinations and specialized marine equipment and products."

Kazakoff noted that CMP Princeton is increasing its marketing efforts to attract to the 2006 convention more yacht management companies and brokers; owners representatives and captains; and yacht designers and buillders.

"With an increase in cruise ship orders and refits, and with the success we experienced with Super Yacht last year, I think we are really building some momentum toward March in Miami Beach," said Kazakoff.